It appears that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on how people pay for goods and services. According to the Atlanta Fed’s 2020 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, the use of cash for payments dropped substantially in 2020, offset by a rise in payments by credit and debit cards, electronic and online payments, and mobile payment apps. Cash payments declined to just 19%, while card payments increased to 57% of the total, fairly evenly split between credit and debit cards. Online electronic payments increased to 12% of the total, while check payments represented 7% of the total and mobile app payments 3%.
What does this mean to your business? It reinforces the need to have a robust card processing solution. More and more customers want to pay via credit and debit card and you need to make that process as painless as possible. Contact your Higher Standards expert advisor about upgrading your system with all the latest features and functionality, including contactless payments.