Consumer Payment Statistics 2026: How Americans Pay

How do Americans actually pay for things? The answer has shifted dramatically in the last five years. This report compiles the latest source-verified data on payment methods, cash usage, mobile adoption, and credit card behavior in the United States.

Key Findings at a Glance (2025 Diary -- 2024 Data)

• U.S. consumers made an average of 48 payments per month in 2024, continuing an upward trend since 2021 (Federal Reserve, 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, June 2025).
• Cash accounted for 14% of all consumer payments by number in 2024, while credit cards accounted for 35% and debit cards 30% (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Consumers made an average of 11 mobile phone payments per month in 2024, up from just 4 per month in 2018 (Fed 2025 Diary).
• More than 90% of U.S. consumers intend to continue using cash as a payment method or store of value (Fed 2025 Diary).
• The U.S. unbanked rate fell to 4.2% in 2023, but 66.2% of unbanked households rely solely on cash for transactions (FDIC 2023 National Survey).

Payment Volume and Methods (2024)

• Total consumer payments averaged 48 per month in 2024 (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Cash was the third-most-used payment instrument after credit and debit cards, a position it has held for five consecutive years (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Consumers made an average of 7 cash payments per month in 2024, unchanged since 2020 (Fed 2025 Diary).

2023 Comparison Data

• Total consumer payments: 45.6 per month in Oct 2023, with card payments at 29.5/mo (Atlanta Fed SDCPC, 2023).
• By value, 42% of payment value was via ACH/bank account methods; total payment value per consumer was $5,382 in Oct 2023 (Atlanta Fed SDCPC, 2023).
• By value, 42% of payment value was made electronically from a bank account using ACH-authorizing methods. Total payment value per consumer was $5,382 in October 2023 (Atlanta Fed SDCPC, 2023).

Cash Usage (2024-2025)

• Cash accounted for 14% of all payments by number in 2024, stable over recent years (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Consumers made an average of 7 cash payments per month, unchanged since 2020 (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Nearly 80% of consumers held cash in their pockets, purses, or wallets for at least one day per month in every Diary survey since 2018 (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Nearly two-thirds of all cash payments in 2024 were made by consumers who actually prefer other payment methods like debit or credit cards (Fed 2025 Diary).
• More than 90% of U.S. consumers intend to use cash in the future as a payment method or store of value (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Households earning less than $25,000/year and adults 55 and older rely on cash more than other cohorts (Fed 2025 Diary).

Financial Inclusion and Cash Reliance (FDIC 2023 Survey)

• 4.2% of U.S. households were unbanked in 2023, the lowest rate since the FDIC survey began in 2009 (FDIC, 2023 National Survey).
• 14.2% of households were underbanked in 2023, relying on nonbank financial services despite having a bank account (FDIC 2023 Report).
• 66.2% of unbanked households rely exclusively on cash, while 48.3% of banked households use mobile banking as their primary access method (FDIC 2023 Report).

Mobile and Digital Payment Adoption

• U.S. consumers made 11 mobile phone payments per month in 2024, up from 4/month in 2018 (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Adults aged 18-24 used their phones for 45% of all payments in 2024 (Fed 2025 Diary).
• 4.5 billion people worldwide use digital wallets in 2025, projected to reach 5.2 billion in 2026 (Capital One Shopping / Juniper Research, Jan 2026).
• 69% of U.S. adults have used a digital wallet in the past 30 days (Capital One Shopping, Jan 2026).
• 38% of Americans use digital wallets at least once per week (Capital One Shopping, Jan 2026).
• Digital wallets accounted for 32% of global point-of-sale transactions and 53% of global online purchases in 2024 (Worldpay GPR via Capital One Shopping).
• The global total value of digital wallet transactions was $10 trillion in 2024, projected to exceed $17 trillion by 2029 (Juniper Research via Capital One Shopping).
• In the U.S., proximity mobile payment users totaled 111.8 million in 2024, expected to surpass 132.6 million by 2028 (eMarketer via Capital One Shopping).

Remote Purchases

• 23% of purchases and peer-to-peer payments were made remotely in 2024, a share that has increased each year since 2021 (Fed 2025 Diary).
• Remote purchases have more than doubled as a share of total purchases compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

Credit Card Fees and Revolving Balances

• One-third of consumers with credit cards paid fees in 2023, a statistically significant increase from 2022 (Atlanta Fed SDCPC, 2023).
• The share of cardholders with unpaid balances (revolvers) was statistically unchanged at just under half (Atlanta Fed SDCPC, 2023).
• Median unpaid balance among revolvers: $2,500 in 2023 vs. $2,700 in 2022 (Atlanta Fed SDCPC, 2023).

Noncash Payment Growth (Federal Reserve Payments Study)

• Noncash payments grew 9.5% per year from 2018 to 2021, the fastest growth rate in any three-year measurement period (Federal Reserve Payments Study, 2022).
• ACH transfers accounted for 91% of the increase in noncash payment value, rising by $27.7 trillion to $91.85 trillion (Federal Reserve Payments Study, 2022).
• Card payments accounted for more than 84% of the growth in the number of noncash payments from 2018 to 2021 (Federal Reserve Payments Study, 2022).
• Total noncash payments reached 216.3 billion in 2022 (Federal Reserve Payments Study, 2024).

If you found this data useful, please cite as: "Consumer Payment Statistics 2026," makemyreceipt.com, February 2026.

Methodology and Sources

• Federal Reserve Financial Services: 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice (June 2025). Nationally representative survey of U.S. consumer payment habits, 9th consecutive year.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: 2023 Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice (Foster, Greene, Stavins, 2024).
• FDIC: 2023 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households (published 2024).
• Capital One Shopping: Digital Wallet Statistics 2026 (January 2026). Compilation from Juniper Research, Worldpay, eMarketer, PYMNTS, and others.
• Federal Reserve Payments Study: 2022 Triennial Data.
• Federal Reserve Payments Study: 2024 Trends in Noncash Payments.
• Atlanta Fed Blog: The 2022 Federal Reserve Payments Study in Four Charts (June 2023).

Last updated: February 2026.