Announcements, Around the Fed

Fast Facts from the Latest Federal Reserve Payments Study Supplement

The Federal Reserve today released their latest payments study supplement which points to an increase in the use of credit cards in 2016 from 2015. Here are the fast facts:

  • The number of credit card payments grew 10.2 percent in 2016, a marked increase from the 8.1 percent growth experienced from 2012 to 2015
  • Remote general purpose credit card use increased 16.6 percent in 2016
  • Remote payments in 2016 represented 22.2 percent of all general-purpose credit and prepaid debit card payments, up 1.5 percentage points from an estimated 20.7 percent in 2015.

Other notable findings from the study include:

  • Total U.S. card payments reached 111.1 billion in 2016, reflecting 7.4 percent growth since 2015
  • From 2012 to 2015, ACH network transfers, representing payments over the ACH network, grew at annual rates of 4.9 percent by number and 4.1 percent by value
  • By 2016, 19.1 percent of all in-person general-purpose card payments were made by chip (26.9 percent by value), compared with only 2.0 percent (3.4 percent by value) in 2015

Learn more by reading the press release in its entirety or check out the full version of the report (Off-site).