View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 1
Number and Dollar Value of Payments by Type of Payment Instrument
Average number and value per consumer, October
Number per consumer

All payments
Paper instruments
Cash..........................................
Check.......................................
Money order.............................
Payment cards
Debit.........................................
Credit or charge........................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT.....................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment
Online banking bill payment....
Other
PayPal......................................
Account to accnt transfer..........
Mobile payment.......................
Income deduction.....................
Other*.......................................

Dollar value per consumer

2015

2016

2017

2015

2016

2017

51.4
20.4

45.9
17.6

41.0
15.1

3600
1108

3916
1168

3418
928

17.1
3.1
0.2
25.7
15.2
9.4
1.2
4.2
1.8
2.4
1.1
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.5

14.1
3.3
0.1
22.0
12.4
8.3
1.2
4.4
2.1
2.3
2.0
0.3
0.4
0.2
0.3
0.8

12.4
2.5
0.1
20.1
10.7
8.6
0.7
3.6
2.0
1.7
2.2
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.2
1.0

381
685
41
1308
686
583
40
1085
406
679
99
21
42
11
13
11

304
832
32
1058
549
473
35
1303
633
671
386
17
167
27
38
137

290
606
32
1055
507
529
19
1036
611
424
399
11
231
24
44
90

—
39.7

—
38.3

—
36.7

—
30.8

—
29.8

—
27.2

33.3
6.0
0.4
50.0
29.5
18.3
2.3
8.2
3.5
4.7
2.1
0.3
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.9

30.8
7.3
0.2
47.9
27.1
18.2
2.6
9.5
4.6
5.0
4.3
0.7
0.8
0.5
0.6
1.8

30.3
6.2
0.3
49.0
26.2
21.0
1.8
8.9
4.8
4.0
5.4
0.8
0.8
0.7
0.6
2.4

10.6
19.0
1.2
36.3
19.0
16.2
1.1
30.1
11.3
18.9
2.7
0.6
1.2
0.3
0.4
0.3

7.8
21.3
0.8
27.0
14.0
12.1
0.9
33.3
16.2
17.1
9.9
0.4
4.3
0.7
1.0
3.5

8.5
17.7
0.9
30.9
14.8
15.5
0.5
30.3
17.9
12.4
11.7
0.3
6.8
0.7
1.3
2.6

Percentage share
All payments
Paper instruments
Cash..........................................
Check.......................................
Money order.............................
Payment cards
Debit.........................................
Credit or charge........................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT.....................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment
Online banking bill payment....
Other
PayPal......................................
Account to accnt transfer..........
Mobile payment.......................
Income deduction.....................
Other*.......................................

* The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 2
Average Transaction Value of Payments by Type of Payment Instrument
Average dollar value per transaction, October

All payments
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other*.....................................................

2015

2016

2017

70.0
54.3

85.3
66.5

83.3
61.6

22.3
223.3
193.9
50.9
45.2
62.1
34.0
258.7
228.5
280.9
90.1
134.7
196.7
72.3
124.9
24.4

21.5
248.8
370.9
48.1
44.2
56.7
29.3
297.9
302.8
293.4
195.4
54.5
457.5
128.1
135.3
170.2

23.4
238.1
275.1
52.5
47.2
61.3
25.5
285.2
310.0
255.7
179.6
32.6
678.8
77.2
182.5
89.4

* The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 3
Purchases by Type of Payment Instrument
Average number and value per consumer; average value per transaction, October 2017 *, †
Value ($)

Number (#)
per consumer
All purchases
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other‡.....................................................

per transaction

32.2
12.4

1413.1
382.2

43.8
30.8

11.5
0.9
0.0
18.1
9.4
8.0
0.7
0.3
0.2
0.1
1.4
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.0
0.7

213.5
168.7
0.0
790.9
334.6
439.2
17.1
73.3
61.9
11.4
166.7
9.7
138.2
2.4
0.4
16.1

18.6
180.7
—
43.7
35.5
55.1
24.6
219.7
259.8
119.3
120.6
32.6
835.0
12.2
13.4
23.2

* The term "purchases" includes person-to-person transactions and asset transfers.
† The numbers in Tables 3 and 4 do not add up exactly to the numbers in Table 1 due to a small number of missing values of the variable
that classifies purchases and bills.
‡ The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 3a
Purchases by Type of Payment Instrument
Percentage share of number and value per consumer, October 2017 *, †
Value ($)

Number (#)
per consumer
All purchases
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other‡.....................................................

per transaction

—
38.5

—
27.0

—
—

35.6
2.9
0.0
56.1
29.3
24.7
2.2
1.0
0.7
0.3
4.3
0.9
0.5
0.6
0.1
2.2

15.1
11.9
0.0
56.0
23.7
31.1
1.2
5.2
4.4
0.8
11.8
0.7
9.8
0.2
0.0
1.1

—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

* The term "purchases" includes person-to-person transactions and asset transfers.
† The numbers in Tables 3 and 4 do not add up exactly to the numbers in Table 1 due to a small number of missing values of the variable
that classifies purchases and bills.
‡ The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 4
Bill Payments by Type of Payment Instrument
Average number and value per consumer; average value per transaction, October 2017
Value ($)

Number (#)
per consumer
All bill payments
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other*.....................................................

per transaction

8.6
2.6

1983.5
544.2

230.5
208.0

0.9
1.6
0.1
1.9
1.3
0.6
0.0
3.3
1.7
1.6
0.8
0.0
0.2
0.1
0.2
0.3

75.8
436.2
32.2
259.8
171.0
88.3
0.5
962.6
549.5
413.1
216.9
1.0
92.7
21.2
29.5
72.5

84.8
271.7
275.1
136.2
132.1
146.5
50.4
291.8
316.9
264.0
277.8
46.5
537.3
191.9
159.1
249.8

—
30.4

—
27.4

—
—

10.4
18.7
1.4
22.2
15.0
7.0
0.1
38.3
20.2
18.2
9.1
0.3
2.0
1.3
2.2
3.4

3.8
22.0
1.6
13.1
8.6
4.5
0.0
48.5
27.7
20.8
10.9
0.1
4.7
1.1
1.5
3.7

—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

Percentage share
All bill payments
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other*.....................................................

* The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 5
Cash Holdings—On Person
Average number of bills and dollar value per consumer, October 2017
Number of bills
All bills
$1.........................................................................................................
$2.........................................................................................................
$5.........................................................................................................
$10.......................................................................................................
$20.......................................................................................................
$50.......................................................................................................
$100.....................................................................................................

Dollar value

5.6
2.6
0.0
0.8
0.5
1.5
0.1
0.1

58.9
2.6
0.0
4.0
5.5
29.2
4.6
13.0

—
46.0
0.4
14.1
9.7
25.9
1.6
2.3

—
4.4
0.1
6.7
9.3
49.6
7.8
22.1

Percentage shares by denomination
All bills
$1.........................................................................................................
$2.........................................................................................................
$5.........................................................................................................
$10.......................................................................................................
$20.......................................................................................................
$50.......................................................................................................
$100.....................................................................................................

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 6
Cash Holdings—Cash Stored Elsewhere
Average number of bills and dollar value per consumer, October 2017
Number of bills
All bills
$1.........................................................................................................
$2.........................................................................................................
$5.........................................................................................................
$10.......................................................................................................
$20.......................................................................................................
$50.......................................................................................................
$100.....................................................................................................

Dollar value

8.0
3.3
0.3
0.5
0.6
1.6
0.2
1.4

198.7
3.3
0.6
2.7
5.6
32.7
12.5
141.2

—
41.3
4.0
6.8
6.9
20.3
3.1
17.5

—
1.7
0.3
1.4
2.8
16.5
6.3
71.1

Percentage shares by denomination
All bills
$1.........................................................................................................
$2.........................................................................................................
$5.........................................................................................................
$10.......................................................................................................
$20.......................................................................................................
$50.......................................................................................................
$100.....................................................................................................

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 7
Income and Labor Force Status
Percentage of consumers*
2015

2016

2017

Household income
Less than $25,000.................................................................................
$25,000–$49,999..................................................................................
$50,000–$74,999..................................................................................
$75,000–$99,999..................................................................................
$100,000–$124,999..............................................................................
$125,000–$199,999..............................................................................
$200,000–$499,999..............................................................................
$500,000 or more.................................................................................

22.7
23.2
19.6
12.2
9.0
9.9
2.8
0.6

21.2
23.7
17.6
11.8
10.9
11.1
3.5
0.2

19.6
22.7
19.1
12.5
10.4
12.0
3.6
0.1

Respondent income
Highest in household............................................................................
About equal with highest......................................................................
2nd highest...........................................................................................
3rd highest or lower..............................................................................

52.0
12.7
24.1
11.1

50.7
14.7
23.5
11.1

49.8
14.2
25.4
10.6

Labor force status
Currently working.................................................................................
On sick or other leave...........................................................................
Unemployed—on layoff†.....................................................................
Unemployed—looking.........................................................................
Retired..................................................................................................
Disabled................................................................................................
Other.....................................................................................................
Selected multiple options.....................................................................

59.7
0.6
0.8
5.8
14.6
6.7
4.8
7.0

59.7
0.5
0.8
5.7
15.8
6.6
5.8
5.2

61.6
0.1
0.5
4.6
15.2
6.2
6.1
5.7

* Estimates are weighted. The table of unweighted sample demographics is available upon request.
† The numbers for unemployment differ from the official BLS numbers due to differences between the UAS panel and the BLS in the
methodologies for collecting the data and computing the unemployment rate.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 8
Demographics and Homeownership
Percentage of consumers, except where noted*
2015

2016

2017

U.S. population age 18 or older (millions)†............................................
Number of survey respondents................................................................

242.6
1,076

245.3
2,848

246.3
2,793

Gender
Male.....................................................................................................
Female..................................................................................................

45.3
54.7

47.9
52.1

46.6
53.4

Age
18–24....................................................................................................
25–34....................................................................................................
35–44....................................................................................................
45–54....................................................................................................
55–64....................................................................................................
65 and older..........................................................................................

6.0
21.3
17.3
20.4
18.2
16.8

5.4
23.3
16.9
17.6
17.2
19.7

5.4
24.1
16.4
17.0
17.1
20.0

Race
White....................................................................................................
Black....................................................................................................
Asian....................................................................................................
Other.....................................................................................................

76.3
13.3
4.6
5.8

74.5
12.8
3.2
9.4

74.9
13.3
3.8
8.0

Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino................................................................................

12.2

12.2

11.9

Education
No high school diploma........................................................................
High school..........................................................................................
Some college........................................................................................
College—bachelor's degree..................................................................
Post-graduate study..............................................................................

8.3
28.1
19.9
29.2
14.5

7.2
32.8
17.9
28.0
14.2

7.3
32.7
18.1
28.1
13.8

Homeownership rate ...............................................................................

62.8

66.9

65.4

* Estimates are weighted. The table of unweighted sample demographics is available upon request.
† Source: Haver Analytics. October estimate, Civilian Noninstitutional Population by Sex and Age (A-13), PN18@EMPL + PN20@EMPL

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 1—Confidence Intervals
Number and Dollar Value of Payments by Type of Payment Instrument
Average number and value per consumer, October
Number per consumer

All payments
Paper instruments
Cash..........................................
Check.......................................
Money order.............................
Payment cards
Debit.........................................
Credit or charge........................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT.....................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment
Online banking bill payment....
Other
PayPal......................................
Account to accnt transfer..........
Mobile payment.......................
Income deduction.....................
Other*.......................................

Dollar value per consumer

2015

2016

2017

2015

2016

2017

[48.0, 54.8]
[18.3, 22.4]

[44.2, 47.6]
[16.6, 18.5]

[39.1, 42.9] [3107, 4093] [3534, 4297] [3015, 3821]
[14.1, 16.0] [803, 1412] [975, 1362] [772, 1084]

[15.2, 19.0]
[2.3, 3.8]
[0.0, 0.4]
[23.2, 28.3]
[12.9, 17.5]
[7.9, 10.8]
[0.7, 1.6]
[3.3, 5.1]
[1.2, 2.3]
[1.7, 3.1]
[0.7, 1.4]
[0.1, 0.2]
[0.1, 0.3]
[0.1, 0.2]
[0.0, 0.2]
[0.2, 0.8]

[13.3, 15.0]
[2.9, 3.8]
[0.0, 0.1]
[20.9, 23.1]
[11.5, 13.3]
[7.6, 9.1]
[1.0, 1.4]
[3.8, 4.9]
[1.7, 2.4]
[1.9, 2.6]
[1.7, 2.2]
[0.2, 0.4]
[0.3, 0.5]
[0.1, 0.3]
[0.2, 0.4]
[0.7, 1.0]

[11.6, 13.2]
[291, 470]
[270, 339]
[2.1, 3.0]
[394, 977] [643, 1021]
[0.0, 0.2]
[7, 76]
[6, 58]
[18.8, 21.4] [1118, 1499] [979, 1136]
[9.7, 11.8]
[535, 836]
[493, 605]
[7.7, 9.6]
[460, 705]
[416, 531]
[0.6, 0.9]
[16, 64]
[22, 48]
[3.1, 4.1] [787, 1383] [1055, 1552]
[1.6, 2.4]
[263, 549]
[483, 782]
[1.3, 2.0]
[424, 935]
[482, 860]
[1.8, 2.6]
[57, 140]
[232, 540]
[0.2, 0.5]
[1, 41]
[10, 25]
[0.2, 0.5]
[12, 72]
[34, 300]
[0.1, 0.5]
[-1, 23]
[8, 46]
[0.1, 0.3]
[1, 25]
[13, 62]
[0.7, 1.3]
[1, 22]
[70, 204]

[253, 328]
[458, 753]
[2, 62]
[941, 1168]
[437, 577]
[438, 620]
[10, 27]
[816, 1256]
[420, 802]
[315, 534]
[215, 584]
[7, 15]
[61, 402]
[3, 44]
[14, 73]
[28, 152]

—
[36.4, 42.9]

—
[36.6, 39.9]

—
[34.8, 38.7]

—
[24.2, 37.3]

—
[25.8, 33.9]

—
[23.8, 30.5]

[30.0, 36.6]
[4.6, 7.4]
[0.1, 0.8]
[46.8, 53.3]
[25.8, 33.2]
[15.7, 20.9]
[1.4, 3.1]
[6.4, 9.9]
[2.4, 4.5]
[3.4, 6.0]
[1.5, 2.8]
[0.1, 0.5]
[0.2, 0.7]
[0.1, 0.5]
[0.0, 0.4]
[0.4, 1.5]

[29.3, 32.4]
[6.4, 8.1]
[0.1, 0.3]
[46.3, 49.5]
[25.4, 28.8]
[16.7, 19.6]
[2.1, 3.1]
[8.5, 10.6]
[3.8, 5.3]
[4.3, 5.7]
[3.8, 4.8]
[0.5, 0.9]
[0.6, 1.0]
[0.3, 0.6]
[0.4, 0.8]
[1.4, 2.1]

[28.5, 32.1]
[5.2, 7.2]
[0.1, 0.5]
[47.0, 50.9]
[24.1, 28.3]
[19.0, 23.1]
[1.4, 2.2]
[7.7, 10.0]
[3.9, 5.7]
[3.3, 4.8]
[4.5, 6.3]
[0.5, 1.1]
[0.5, 1.1]
[0.3, 1.2]
[0.3, 0.8]
[1.8, 3.1]

[7.8, 13.3]
[12.3, 25.8]
[0.2, 2.1]
[31.2, 41.5]
[14.8, 23.3]
[13.0, 19.4]
[0.4, 1.8]
[23.7, 36.6]
[7.6, 15.0]
[12.8, 24.9]
[1.6, 3.9]
[0.0, 1.1]
[0.3, 2.0]
[0.0, 0.6]
[0.0, 0.7]
[0.0, 0.6]

[6.7, 8.9]
[17.2, 25.3]
[0.2, 1.5]
[24.3, 29.7]
[12.3, 15.8]
[10.4, 13.7]
[0.6, 1.2]
[28.7, 37.9]
[12.8, 19.5]
[13.0, 21.3]
[6.2, 13.5]
[0.2, 0.6]
[1.0, 7.5]
[0.2, 1.2]
[0.3, 1.6]
[1.8, 5.2]

[7.1, 9.9]
[14.4, 21.1]
[0.1, 1.8]
[27.1, 34.6]
[12.4, 17.3]
[12.9, 18.1]
[0.3, 0.8]
[25.1, 35.6]
[13.0, 22.8]
[9.3, 15.5]
[7.1, 16.3]
[0.2, 0.4]
[2.2, 11.3]
[0.1, 1.3]
[0.4, 2.2]
[0.9, 4.4]

Percentage share
All payments
Paper instruments
Cash..........................................
Check.......................................
Money order.............................
Payment cards
Debit.........................................
Credit or charge........................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT.....................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment
Online banking bill payment....
Other
PayPal......................................
Account to accnt transfer..........
Mobile payment.......................
Income deduction.....................
Other*.......................................

* The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 2—Confidence Intervals
Average Transaction Value of Payments by Type of Payment Instrument
Average dollar value per transaction, October

All payments
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other*.....................................................

2015

2016

2017

[61.4, 78.7]
[40.0, 68.7]

[77.8, 92.8]
[56.1, 76.9]

[74.4, 92.2]
[52.1, 71.0]

[18.1, 26.5]
[139.5, 307.0]
[70.5, 317.3]
[45.5, 56.3]
[38.2, 52.3]
[53.5, 70.6]
[18.8, 49.3]
[198.8, 318.6]
[165.0, 292.0]
[189.9, 371.9]
[54.7, 125.4]
[44.8, 224.6]
[111.9, 281.5]
[-1.2, 145.8]
[57.9, 191.9]
[1.1, 47.8]

[19.4, 23.6]
[201.6, 296.1]
[177.9, 563.9]
[45.3, 51.0]
[40.7, 47.6]
[51.5, 62.0]
[21.3, 37.2]
[247.6, 348.1]
[236.6, 369.0]
[222.7, 364.1]
[120.8, 270.1]
[33.2, 75.8]
[109.1, 805.9]
[62.2, 194.0]
[56.9, 213.7]
[92.4, 248.0]

[20.8, 26.0]
[189.1, 287.0]
[52.0, 498.2]
[47.6, 57.3]
[41.7, 52.6]
[52.5, 70.1]
[15.1, 35.9]
[233.2, 337.2]
[223.9, 396.2]
[206.4, 304.9]
[98.2, 261.0]
[21.3, 43.8]
[210.8, 1,146.8]
[11.4, 143.0]
[92.1, 272.9]
[33.0, 145.8]

* The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 3—Confidence Intervals
Purchases by Type of Payment Instrument
Average number and value per consumer; average value per transaction, October 2017 *, †
Value ($)

Number (#)
per consumer
All purchases
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other‡.....................................................

per transaction

[30.6, 33.9]
[11.6, 13.2]

[1146, 1681]
[279, 485]

[35.9, 51.8]
[22.8, 38.7]

[10.7, 12.3]
[0.7, 1.1]
[0.0, 0.0]
[16.9, 19.3]
[8.5, 10.4]
[7.1, 8.9]
[0.5, 0.9]
[0.2, 0.4]
[0.2, 0.3]
[0.0, 0.1]
[1.0, 1.7]
[0.2, 0.4]
[0.1, 0.3]
[0.0, 0.4]
[0.0, 0.1]
[0.4, 0.9]

[189, 238]
[69, 268]
[0, 0]
[711, 871]
[297, 372]
[369, 509]
[9, 25]
[36, 110]
[26, 98]
[4, 19]
[8, 325]
[6, 14]
[-20, 296]
[0, 4]
[0, 1]
[7, 26]

[16.9, 20.3]
[81.1, 280.3]
—
[40.2, 47.2]
[32.8, 38.2]
[48.2, 62.0]
[13.9, 35.4]
[121.7, 317.7]
[126.3, 393.3]
[52.1, 186.4]
[5.4, 235.8]
[21.4, 43.8]
[-85.7, 1755.8]
[2.2, 22.2]
[2.3, 24.6]
[9.4, 37.0]

* The term "purchases" includes person-to-person transactions and asset transfers.
† The numbers in Tables 3 and 4 do not add up exactly to the numbers in Table 1 due to a small number of missing values of the variable
that classifies purchases and bills.
‡ The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 3a—Confidence Intervals
Purchases by Type of Payment Instrument
Percentage share of number and value per consumer, October 2017 *, †
Value ($)

Number (#)
per consumer
All purchases
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other‡.....................................................

per transaction

—
[36.4, 40.7]

—
[23.4, 30.6]

—
—

[33.6, 37.7]
[2.3, 3.5]
[0.0, 0.0]
[54.0, 58.3]
[26.8, 31.7]
[22.3, 27.1]
[1.6, 2.7]
[0.7, 1.3]
[0.5, 1.0]
[0.1, 0.4]
[3.3, 5.3]
[0.6, 1.2]
[0.2, 0.8]
[0.1, 1.1]
[0.0, 0.2]
[1.4, 2.9]

[12.0, 18.2]
[6.8, 17.1]
[0.0, 0.0]
[45.7, 66.3]
[18.9, 28.5]
[24.5, 37.6]
[0.6, 1.8]
[2.5, 7.9]
[1.8, 7.0]
[0.2, 1.4]
[2.6, 21.0]
[0.4, 1.0]
[0.3, 19.3]
[0.0, 0.3]
[0.0, 0.1]
[0.4, 1.8]

—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

* The term "purchases" includes person-to-person transactions and asset transfers.
† The numbers in Tables 3 and 4 do not add up exactly to the numbers in Table 1 due to a small number of missing values of the variable
that classifies purchases and bills.
‡ The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 4—Confidence Intervals
Bill Payments by Type of Payment Instrument
Average number and value per consumer; average value per transaction, October 2017
Value ($)

Number (#)
per consumer
All bill payments
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other*.....................................................

per transaction

[7.8, 9.4]
[2.2, 3.0]

[1704, 2263]
[430, 659]

[204.0, 257.1]
[174.4, 241.5]

[0.7, 1.1]
[1.3, 1.9]
[0.0, 0.2]
[1.6, 2.2]
[1.0, 1.6]
[0.4, 0.8]
[0.0, 0.0]
[2.8, 3.8]
[1.4, 2.1]
[1.2, 1.9]
[0.6, 1.0]
[0.0, 0.0]
[0.1, 0.2]
[0.0, 0.2]
[0.1, 0.3]
[0.2, 0.4]

[48, 103]
[329, 543]
[2, 62]
[192, 328]
[115, 227]
[49, 128]
[0, 1]
[746, 1179]
[362, 737]
[304, 522]
[126, 308]
[0, 2]
[28, 158]
[1, 41]
[10, 49]
[15, 130]

[63.0, 106.6]
[221.3, 322.1]
[52.0, 498.2]
[107.3, 165.1]
[98.6, 165.6]
[89.9, 203.1]
[-22.6, 123.4]
[235.6, 348.0]
[220.7, 413.2]
[212.6, 315.3]
[186.4, 369.3]
[8.5, 84.5]
[238.4, 836.3]
[70.8, 313.0]
[89.7, 228.5]
[111.1, 388.5]

—
[26.6, 34.2]

—
[22.3, 32.6]

—
—

[8.0, 12.7]
[15.3, 22.0]
[0.4, 2.3]
[18.9, 25.4]
[12.1, 18.0]
[5.2, 8.9]
[0.0, 0.3]
[34.2, 42.5]
[16.5, 23.8]
[14.9, 21.5]
[7.0, 11.1]
[0.0, 0.5]
[1.2, 2.8]
[0.4, 2.1]
[1.1, 3.2]
[2.0, 4.8]

[2.4, 5.3]
[17.2, 26.8]
[0.1, 3.1]
[9.7, 16.5]
[5.8, 11.5]
[2.5, 6.4]
[0.0, 0.1]
[41.7, 55.4]
[20.4, 35.0]
[15.7, 25.9]
[6.6, 15.2]
[0.0, 0.1]
[1.5, 7.9]
[0.1, 2.1]
[0.5, 2.5]
[0.8, 6.5]

—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

Percentage share
All bill payments
Paper instruments
Cash........................................................
Check......................................................
Money order...........................................
Payment cards
Debit.......................................................
Credit or charge......................................
Prepaid/Gift/EBT...................................
Electronic payments
Bank account number payment...............
Online banking bill payment..................
Other
PayPal.....................................................
Account to accnt transfer........................
Mobile payment......................................
Income deduction...................................
Other*.....................................................

* The term "Other" includes the following payment methods: multiple payment methods for one payment, unreported payment methods,
and other responses that could not be recategorized into one of the existing payment instrument categories.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 5—Confidence Intervals
Cash Holdings—On Person
Average number of bills and dollar value per consumer, October 2017

All bills
$1.........................................................................................................
$2.........................................................................................................
$5.........................................................................................................
$10.......................................................................................................
$20.......................................................................................................
$50.......................................................................................................
$100.....................................................................................................

Number of bills

Dollar value

[5.3, 6.0]
[2.4, 2.8]
[0.0, 0.0]
[0.7, 0.9]
[0.5, 0.6]
[1.3, 1.6]
[0.1, 0.1]
[0.1, 0.2]

[53.0, 64.8]
[2.4, 2.8]
[0.0, 0.1]
[3.6, 4.4]
[4.9, 6.1]
[25.7, 32.7]
[3.4, 5.8]
[9.4, 16.6]

—
[43.9, 48.1]
[0.2, 0.6]
[12.9, 15.3]
[8.8, 10.6]
[23.7, 28.1]
[1.2, 2.0]
[1.7, 2.9]

—
[4.0, 4.8]
[0.0, 0.1]
[5.9, 7.6]
[8.2, 10.4]
[45.4, 53.8]
[5.8, 9.7]
[17.3, 26.9]

Percentage shares by denomination
All bills
$1.........................................................................................................
$2.........................................................................................................
$5.........................................................................................................
$10.......................................................................................................
$20.......................................................................................................
$50.......................................................................................................
$100.....................................................................................................

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 6—Confidence Intervals
Cash Holdings—Cash Stored Elsewhere
Average number of bills and dollar value per consumer, October 2017

All bills
$1.........................................................................................................
$2.........................................................................................................
$5.........................................................................................................
$10.......................................................................................................
$20.......................................................................................................
$50.......................................................................................................
$100.....................................................................................................

Number of bills

Dollar value

[5.7, 10.4]
[1.2, 5.4]
[0.0, 0.6]
[0.4, 0.7]
[0.3, 0.8]
[1.2, 2.0]
[0.2, 0.3]
[0.8, 2.0]

[136.2, 261.1]
[1.2, 5.4]
[0.1, 1.2]
[1.9, 3.5]
[3.4, 7.8]
[24.9, 40.6]
[7.6, 17.4]
[81.2, 201.1]

—
[25.7, 56.9]
[0.6, 7.4]
[4.7, 8.9]
[3.9, 10.0]
[13.8, 26.8]
[1.8, 4.5]
[9.8, 25.3]

—
[0.5, 2.8]
[0.0, 0.6]
[0.8, 1.9]
[1.5, 4.2]
[10.7, 22.2]
[3.6, 9.0]
[61.7, 80.4]

Percentage shares by denomination
All bills
$1.........................................................................................................
$2.........................................................................................................
$5.........................................................................................................
$10.......................................................................................................
$20.......................................................................................................
$50.......................................................................................................
$100.....................................................................................................

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 7—Confidence Intervals
Income and Labor Force Status
Percentage of consumers*
2015

2016

2017

Household income
Less than $25,000.................................................................................
$25,000–$49,999..................................................................................
$50,000–$74,999..................................................................................
$75,000–$99,999..................................................................................
$100,000–$124,999..............................................................................
$125,000–$199,999..............................................................................
$200,000–$499,999..............................................................................
$500,000 or more.................................................................................

[19.5, 26.0]
[20.0, 26.3]
[16.7, 22.4]
[9.9, 14.6]
[7.0, 10.9]
[7.9, 12.0]
[1.7, 4.0]
[-0.1, 1.2]

[19.2, 23.3]
[21.6, 25.9]
[15.8, 19.3]
[10.3, 13.3]
[9.3, 12.5]
[9.5, 12.6]
[2.6, 4.4]
[0.0, 0.4]

[17.7, 21.4]
[20.7, 24.6]
[17.3, 20.9]
[11.0, 14.0]
[8.9, 11.9]
[10.4, 13.6]
[2.7, 4.5]
[0.0, 0.2]

Respondent income
Highest in household............................................................................
About equal with highest......................................................................
2nd highest...........................................................................................
3rd highest or lower..............................................................................

[48.4, 55.7]
[10.2, 15.3]
[21.0, 27.2]
[8.5, 13.7]

[48.4, 53.1]
[13.0, 16.4]
[21.5, 25.4]
[9.5, 12.7]

[47.1, 52.5]
[12.3, 16.2]
[23.0, 27.7]
[8.7, 12.4]

Labor force status
Currently working.................................................................................
On sick or other leave...........................................................................
Unemployed—on layoff†.....................................................................
Unemployed—looking.........................................................................
Retired..................................................................................................
Disabled................................................................................................
Other.....................................................................................................
Selected multiple options.....................................................................

[56.1, 63.3]
[0.1, 1.0]
[0.1, 1.5]
[3.8, 7.8]
[12.2, 17.1]
[4.7, 8.7]
[3.2, 6.4]
[5.3, 8.8]

[57.4, 62.0]
[0.2, 0.8]
[0.3, 1.3]
[4.6, 6.8]
[14.2, 17.5]
[5.4, 7.7]
[4.7, 6.9]
[4.2, 6.2]

[59.0, 64.2]
[0.0, 0.3]
[0.1, 1.0]
[3.5, 5.7]
[13.4, 17.1]
[5.0, 7.4]
[4.7, 7.4]
[4.5, 6.8]

* Estimates are weighted. The table of unweighted sample demographics is available upon request.
† The numbers for unemployment differ from the official BLS numbers due to differences between the UAS panel and the BLS in the
methodologies for collecting the data and computing the unemployment rate.

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.

2017 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
Table 8—Confidence Intervals
Demographics and Homeownership
Percentage of consumers, except where noted*
U.S. population age 18 or older (millions)†............................................
Number of survey respondents................................................................

2015

2016

2017

—
—

—
—

—
—

Gender
Male.....................................................................................................
Female..................................................................................................

[41.7, 49.0]
[51.0, 58.3]

[45.5, 50.4]
[49.6, 54.5]

[43.4, 49.8]
[50.2, 56.6]

Age
18–24....................................................................................................
25–34....................................................................................................
35–44....................................................................................................
45–54....................................................................................................
55–64....................................................................................................
65 and older..........................................................................................

[3.9, 8.1]
[18.1, 24.5]
[14.8, 19.8]
[17.5, 23.2]
[15.6, 20.9]
[14.1, 19.5]

[4.1, 6.6]
[21.0, 25.6]
[15.1, 18.6]
[15.8, 19.3]
[15.6, 18.8]
[17.7, 21.8]

[4.1, 6.6]
[21.9, 26.3]
[14.8, 18.0]
[15.4, 18.7]
[15.6, 18.7]
[18.1, 21.9]

Race
White....................................................................................................
Black....................................................................................................
Asian....................................................................................................
Other.....................................................................................................

[73.0, 79.5]
[10.5, 16.1]
[2.9, 6.3]
[4.6, 7.1]

[72.1, 76.9]
[10.9, 14.7]
[2.2, 4.3]
[7.8, 11.1]

[72.4, 77.5]
[11.3, 15.3]
[2.6, 4.9]
[6.4, 9.6]

Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino................................................................................

[9.3, 15.1]

[10.3, 14.2]

[9.8, 13.9]

Education
No high school diploma........................................................................
High school..........................................................................................
Some college........................................................................................
College—bachelor's degree..................................................................
Post-graduate study..............................................................................

[5.7, 10.8]
[24.3, 31.9]
[17.3, 22.5]
[26.3, 32.1]
[12.3, 16.7]

[5.7, 8.7]
[30.2, 35.3]
[16.2, 19.6]
[26.0, 30.0]
[12.6, 15.7]

[5.9, 8.6]
[30.3, 35.1]
[16.5, 19.7]
[26.1, 30.0]
[12.4, 15.3]

Homeownership rate ...............................................................................

[59.2, 66.5]

[64.5, 69.4]

[63.1, 67.7]

* Estimates are weighted. The table of unweighted sample demographics is available upon request.
† Source: Haver Analytics. October estimate, Civilian Noninstitutional Population by Sex and Age (A-13), PN18@EMPL + PN20@EMPL

© 2018 Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, and San Francisco.