Check, Please! Checks Still the Most Common Noncash Payment Type in the United States

TowerGroup Take-Aways

• Volumes of paper checks continue to decline in the United States as payers migrate to electronic payments via debit cards and Automated Clearing House (ACH).
• Average check values are increasing because payers continue to use checks for higher-value payments.
• Although consumers write the majority of check volume, business checks account for the majority of check value.
• Nearly 60% of US check value is used for business-to-business (B2B) payments.
• The majority of interbank checks are still presented in original paper form.
• Persistent challenges in making and receiving electronic payments will keep checks a major payment type — and opportunity for banks, processors, and vendors — in the coming years.

Report Coverage

This TowerGroup Research Note focuses on the 2007 Federal Reserve Payments Study's section on checks. The Note delves into the study's findings on check distribution by payee and payment purpose and the state of image exchange, outlining the reasons that TowerGroup expects checks to remain an important and increasingly high-value payment type for the foreseeable future.

Report Coverage

Background

Transaction Volume and Value by Type of Payment

Who Still Uses Checks? (Hint: It's Not Who You Think)

Commercial Banks: The Source of Most Check Volume and Value

Businesses: Recipients of Most Check Volume and Value

Proliferation of Image Exchange

Check Volume Decline to Continue

Summary