Diverse woman sitting outside with juice and cup of coffee, paying with cashless payment debit card or credit card tap to pay machine.

Cash or Credit? How Consumers Pay Today

March 10, 2026

A survey of consumer payment preferences found that credit cards are now used for 35% of all payments, a 17 percentage-point increase since 2016. Consumers are increasingly shopping, paying bills, and making person-to-person payments remotely, and 78% of respondents said they preferred using a credit or debit card even for in-person payments.

Although cash is no longer king, demand for it remains, especially for in-person purchases under $25. The survey found that for small purchases it was equally likely that consumers would choose paying by credit card, debit card, or cash, and 83% of people surveyed said they had used cash in the previous 30 days.

Form of payment used (percentage of all transactions)

Credit

2024: 35%

2016: 18%

Debit

2024: 30%

2016: 27%

Cash

2024: 14%

2016: 31%

ACH*

2024: 13%

2016: 10%

Other

2024: 5%

2016: 6%

Check

2024: 3%

2016: 7%

*A direct transfer from a financial account using the Automated Clearing House system

Source: Federal Reserve, 2025

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