Americans made 120.6 billion debit card payments in 2024 and 67.1 billion credit card payments, according to the Federal Reserve Payments Study. Debit cards were used far more often, but credit cards carried more money: $6.51 trillion on credit against $4.99 trillion on debit.
The average credit card payment was $96.91, more than twice the $41.40 average on debit. Credit’s share of card payments has grown since 2021, from 32% to 36% of the number of card payments. The number of credit card payments rose 32% from 2021 to 2024, compared with 13% for debit.
All card payments together reached 187.7 billion, worth $11.50 trillion. Checks kept shrinking, to 9.2 billion payments in 2024 from 17.0 billion in 2015.
What the figures measure
The Payments Study counts noncash payments made in the United States. Card figures include business cards as well as consumer cards. General-purpose card figures are net of returns and count only payments that were authorized and settled. Value is shown in trillions of dollars.
- General-purpose cards run on networks such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. Private label cards work only at one merchant or group of merchants, like a store card.
- Prepaid debit includes general-purpose prepaid cards, private-label prepaid cards such as gift cards, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards that states use to deliver benefits like SNAP.
- Checks are checks paid between and within banks. They do not include checks converted to ACH payments.
The 2024 figures are from the study’s initial data release and could be revised. Shares and percentage changes are our calculations.
By card type and year
| Payment type | Year | Payments (billions) | Value | Average payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All noncash payments | 2015 | 142.42 | $83.99T | $589.77 |
| All noncash payments | 2018 | 172.64 | $96.26T | $557.59 |
| All noncash payments | 2021 | 204.76 | $129.63T | $633.11 |
| All noncash payments | 2024 | 236.61 | $140.01T | $591.72 |
| All cards | 2015 | 101.54 | $5.52T | $54.37 |
| All cards | 2018 | 131.16 | $7.07T | $53.94 |
| All cards | 2021 | 157.68 | $9.43T | $59.81 |
| All cards | 2024 | 187.72 | $11.50T | $61.26 |
| Debit cards | 2015 | 67.85 | $2.47T | $36.39 |
| Debit cards | 2018 | 86.58 | $3.10T | $35.83 |
| Debit cards | 2021 | 106.73 | $4.56T | $42.72 |
| Debit cards | 2024 | 120.57 | $4.99T | $41.40 |
| Debit cards: non-prepaid | 2015 | 56.61 | $2.18T | $38.45 |
| Debit cards: non-prepaid | 2018 | 72.66 | $2.75T | $37.84 |
| Debit cards: non-prepaid | 2021 | 87.81 | $3.94T | $44.84 |
| Debit cards: non-prepaid | 2024 | 99.28 | $4.34T | $43.73 |
| Debit cards: prepaid | 2015 | 11.24 | $0.29T | $26.03 |
| Debit cards: prepaid | 2018 | 13.92 | $0.35T | $25.33 |
| Debit cards: prepaid | 2021 | 18.92 | $0.62T | $32.86 |
| Debit cards: prepaid | 2024 | 21.29 | $0.65T | $30.52 |
| Prepaid debit: general purpose | 2015 | 4.25 | $0.15T | $34.81 |
| Prepaid debit: general purpose | 2018 | 6.02 | $0.19T | $31.63 |
| Prepaid debit: general purpose | 2021 | 8.96 | $0.38T | $41.88 |
| Prepaid debit: general purpose | 2024 | 11.82 | $0.43T | $36.02 |
| Prepaid debit: private label | 2015 | 4.37 | $0.07T | $15.87 |
| Prepaid debit: private label | 2018 | 5.57 | $0.10T | $17.99 |
| Prepaid debit: private label | 2021 | 5.20 | $0.08T | $15.81 |
| Prepaid debit: private label | 2024 | 6.73 | $0.11T | $16.91 |
| Prepaid debit: EBT | 2015 | 2.61 | $0.08T | $28.73 |
| Prepaid debit: EBT | 2018 | 2.33 | $0.06T | $26.63 |
| Prepaid debit: EBT | 2021 | 4.76 | $0.16T | $34.51 |
| Prepaid debit: EBT | 2024 | 2.73 | $0.11T | $40.28 |
| Credit cards | 2015 | 33.69 | $3.05T | $90.58 |
| Credit cards | 2018 | 44.59 | $3.97T | $89.10 |
| Credit cards | 2021 | 50.95 | $4.87T | $95.61 |
| Credit cards | 2024 | 67.15 | $6.51T | $96.91 |
| Credit cards: general purpose | 2015 | 31.02 | $2.80T | $90.37 |
| Credit cards: general purpose | 2018 | 40.92 | $3.64T | $89.03 |
| Credit cards: general purpose | 2021 | 47.80 | $4.52T | $94.66 |
| Credit cards: general purpose | 2024 | 64.28 | $6.17T | $95.98 |
| Credit cards: private label | 2015 | 2.67 | $0.25T | $93.00 |
| Credit cards: private label | 2018 | 3.67 | $0.33T | $89.82 |
| Credit cards: private label | 2021 | 3.15 | $0.35T | $110.14 |
| Credit cards: private label | 2024 | 2.86 | $0.34T | $118.00 |
| Checks | 2015 | 16.99 | $26.05T | $1,533.10 |
| Checks | 2018 | 13.50 | $25.02T | $1,853.75 |
| Checks | 2021 | 11.05 | $26.37T | $2,386.40 |
| Checks | 2024 | 9.21 | $24.45T | $2,653.47 |
Figures may not add up because of rounding. Credit and debit card payments add up to all card payments.
Source
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve Payments Study, calendar year 2024 initial data release, Table 1, Noncash payments, 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2024, downloaded October 25, 2026. U.S. government data. Our table is available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Credit vs. Debit Card Payments in the U.S.," My Credit Guide, October 25, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/credit-vs-debit-card-payments/.