Credit Card Payments Outpace Debit for First Time Since 2000

Cards continued to account for the greatest number of noncash payments in the United States in 2024, while ACH payments continued to account for the highest value of noncash payments.

Both of those trends were true by a wider margin than three years earlier, according to the latest Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRPS).

The FRPS is conducted every three years, quantifies aggregate payment volumes, and includes payments from U.S. domiciled accounts, both consumer and non-consumer.

The latest study, the 2025 FRPS, includes data from 2024.

Cards accounted for 79% of noncash payment volume in 2024, up from 77% in 2021. These payments include 120.6 billion debit card payments and 67.1 billion credit card payments. However, cards made up only 8% of noncash payment value.

“Credit cards grew the most by number among all payment types, marking the first measured three-year period since 2000 that credit card payments grew more than debit card payments,” the report said.

ACH payments accounted for 74% of noncash payment value in 2024, up from 72% in 2021. These payments include both ACH debit transfers and ACH credit transfers, with the latter accounting for almost two-thirds of ACH payment valued, and they totaled $104.06 trillion in 2024.

“ACH payments continued to dominate noncash payments by value, although growth slowed relative to recent periods,” the report said.

Checks accounted for 4% of noncash payments by number and 17% by value in 2024. Between 2021 and 2024, the number of check payments declined by 1.8 billion to 9.2 billion and the value of check payments dropped by $1.92 trillion to $24.45 trillion.

ATM cash withdrawals also declined, with the number dropping from 3.8 billion in 2021 to 3.4 billion in 2024.

The report said that for both checks and ATM withdrawals, while the numbers were down, the average value was up. The average value of check payments rose from $2,386 in 2021 to $2,653 in 2024. The average value of ATM cash withdrawals inched up from $202 in 2021 to $210 in 2024.

Overall, total noncash payments increased in terms of both number and value between 2021 and 2024. The number increased by 31.9 billion to reach 236.6 billion in 2024, while the value rose by $10.37 trillion to reach $140.01 trillion.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Five Years of Change: How Payouts Shifted From Slow and Paper-Based to Instant and Digital” found that in the U.S. payout market, both consumers and businesses have moved away from checks and slower bank transfers toward faster digital options.