Do consumers still favor checks? We seem to write them often enough. In October 2024, the Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice found that one-third of US consumers had paid with a check in the previous 30 days.

But, do consumers like them? Maybe not so much:

  • In 2024, more than 90 percent of consumers reported that they prefer to use something other than a check for bill pay. Just 6 percent paid by check.
  • Also in 2024, consumers rated checks second-worst for convenience, speed of payment, and acquisition and setup. Only money orders ranked worse for these characteristics.
  • Consumers also rated checks poorly for security—only cash ranked worse.

Chart 01 of 02: Bar Chart--Bills paid with checks (shares by number)Although we read and hear a lot about checks' stubborn refusal to vanish, these consumer sentiments are taking a toll. Look at our immediate past use of checks post-COVID, and you'll see a steady drop. The chart at left compares the shares by number of bills consumers paid with checks in 2020 to the shares in 2024—down 12 percentage points to 7 percent.

By value, these shares also dropped, from 23 percent in 2020 to 13 percent in 2024.

Where did all these bill payments go? The chart below shows that consumers are substituting two ways to pay for bills. Consumers paid half of bills electronically from bank accounts in 2024, up from 44 percent in 2020. Electronic means include using a banking app or website to pay and providing account credentials directly to the payee. Consumers paid one-third of bills with cards, up from 25 percent in 2020. Cards include debit, credit and prepaid.

Allowing for rounding, you see where the checks have gone: plus 6 percentage points for electronic, plus 8 for cards, down 12 for checks.

Chart 02 of 02: Line Chart--Shares of Bill Payments by Numbers

Of the card payments for bills, debit cards have consistently been most popular. Consumers paid 18 percent of bills with debit cards in 2024, 15 percent with credit cards.

This new data from the Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice was released last week. You can read more, view interactive charts, and download data here.

Portrait photo of Claire Greene
By Claire Greene, center director, Atlanta Fed Payments Forum