2018 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice

This paper describes key results from the 2018 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice (DCPC), the fifth in a series of diary surveys that measure payment behavior through the daily recording of the spending of U.S. consumers. The DCPC is the only diary survey of U.S. consumer payments with data and results that are available to the public without a fee. In October 2018, consumers made more payments with debit cards than with any other payment instrument (28 percent of payments). Cash, in all prior diary years the most-used payment instrument, followed with 26 percent of payments. Together with credit cards (23 percent), these instruments accounted for slightly more than three-quarters of the number of payments. By value, electronic payments accounted for 36 percent of the value of total payments, a statistically significant increase from 2017. The value share of payments made with paper instruments continued its steady decline, from 31 percent in 2015 to 23 percent in 2018. The average value of a cash transaction was $21, compared with $206 for the average noncash transaction (and $92 for all transactions). The average value of consumers' holdings of cash on their persons (in pocket, purse, or wallet) was about $60.