Despite all the Fuss Over the New 'Wallet' on Your Phone, the Cash in Your Wallet is Still King!

Many of you are likely familiar with the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice.  For those who are not, this is a triennial survey and report produced by the Federal Reserve.  And has become a key reference point for the payments industry.  The main take-aways from the 2026 report are:

• Debit and credit cards remain the primary forms of consumer payment

• Mobile wallets are struggling to have any significant impact 

• Checks are still with us – even in the consumer payments world

• “Despite considerable activity in the payments ecosystem, cash usage has not materially changed”

This year’s report provides consumer payments data over a decade and highlights key aspects about U.S. consumer payment practices, with a focus on evolving trends in cash usage. The 2026 findings from the Federal Reserve’s Diary of Consumer Payment Choice reveal only small shifts in consumer payment behavior in 2025 when compared to 2024. This supports the idea that consumer payment behavior changes gradually over time as significant events and technologies are incorporated into their lives. Additionally, despite considerable activity in the payments ecosystem, cash usage has not materially changed.

Four out of five consumers use cash regularly. Although the number of cash payments has declined over the last 10 years, cash remains a widely used payment instrument. More than 80% of participants reported using cash to make at least one payment in the prior 30 days, exceeding the share who reported using credit cards (71%) or debit cards (67%) during the same period. The prevalence of cash use despite its relatively lower number of transactions can be partially explained by consumers’ frequent use of cash as a backup payment instrument and as an important payment method among certain demographic groups.

Most adults continue to carry cash on their person, though this share has slowly declined over the years. From 2018 to 2024, around four out of five consumers carried cash. However, this declined to 76% in 2025, representing the largest year-over-year decline since 2018. Despite this, the average value of on-person cash has increased, from around $60 in 2016 to around $70 in 2025. Over the same period, more consumers reported carrying $100 notes, with the share increasing from one in eight in 2016 to one in four in 2025.

One of the report’s many valuable charts is included above, but there are 15 more in the report itself. The 2026 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice has been posted to our website and I encourage everyone to read through all 24 pages.

Best regards to all.

David