New data on consumer payment habits

The Consumer Research Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has produced an updated snapshot of data on consumer payment habits. The 2008 Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (SCPC) is the fourth in a series of data collection efforts undertaken by the Boston Fed beginning in 2003.

A document made public by the center on Dec. 31, 2009, stated that the latest SCPC data is preliminary and subject to revisions. However, it highlights interesting trends in transition from paper to electronic payments.

Highlights include the following:

• Consumers make 52.9 percent of their monthly payments using cards (credit, debit and prepaid).
• More consumers now have debit cards (80.2 percent) than have credit cards (78.3 percent).
• Cash, checks and other paper instruments (for example, money orders) account for 36.5 percent of consumer payments.
• Most consumers have used newer electronic payment methods, such as online bill-pay, but those methods account for just 9.7 percent of consumer payments.
• Security and ease of use are the characteristics of paper payments that consumers consider most important.

The SCPC was designed to help the Fed and other policymakers get a better handle on consumer payment habits; it uses a combination of internal and external researchers to survey consumers directly. The SCPC differs from the Federal Reserve Payments Study, which collects and analyzes financial institution payments data about every three years.

A final report detailing the SCPC findings is expected to be released this year.

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