Federal Reserve issues initial findings from its 2025 triennial payments study

The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that U.S. noncash payments reached 236.6 billion transactions in 2024, more than triple the volume recorded in 2000, according to initial findings from its 2025 triennial payments study [1]. Cards remained the dominant payment instrument, accounting for over three-quarters of all noncash payments by number [1]. Debit cards held the majority share of card payments, but credit card payments grew at a faster rate than debit for the first time in nearly ten years [1]. The study, a joint effort of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Federal Reserve Board, has been conducted every three years since 2001, with annual supplements added in 2017 [1]. By value, ACH transfers continued to lead, capturing almost three-quarters of the total value of noncash payments for the first time [1]. Check payments and ATM cash withdrawals declined in both number and value [1]. The estimates are derived from voluntary surveys of depository institutions, card networks, and other major payment processors [1]. The Federal Reserve System was established by the Federal Reserve Act, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913, creating a central bank with twelve regional Reserve Banks [8]. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the largest and most active of the regional banks, is uniquely responsible for implementing monetary policy on behalf of the Federal Open Market Committee [7]. The payments data arrive as the financial regulatory landscape continues to be shaped by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and imposed new oversight on banks and credit rating agencies in response to the 2007 financial crisis [2].