December 13th, 2007 by merchant account blog
Debit cards surpass credit cards for most use
Filed in: Industry News | 1 comment
For the first time in history, debit card usage has passed credit card usage. A study by the Federal Reserve, shows that debit card usage is now 27% of non-cash transactions while credit is now 23%. There was no change in credit card usage from 2003 – 2006 while debit card usage went up 70% (from 19% to 27%) over the course of three years. At the same time the use of paper checks went down 72% and ACH bank drafting went up by 69%.
Nothing surprising but paper checks are definitely on their way out and are being replaced by electronic drafting and debit cards. It’s about time!
For more Federal Reserve Reports:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/paymentsresearch.htm
I think one of the reasons for this statistic is that debit cards are connected to your actual money while credit cards are, well, a reason to be in debt. With what’s going on around the world today, I think more and more people are becomig conscious of their spending habits.