Cash’s share missed its backup role
Transactions differ from cash holdings.
- Event / announcement date
- 2026-05-11
The Federal Reserve’s May 11, 2026 report put cash at 14% of 2025 consumer payments; 76% of adults carried it on at least one diary day. These measure transactions and people; holdings need not generate payments. [1]
A separate July study counted 2024 noncash payments by consumers and businesses using institution and network reporting. Its totals cannot establish how many people stopped using cash: the population, period and payment coverage differ. [2]
The diary used 6,079 participants’ three-day October 2025 records, weighted to national population estimates. Its notes attribute the rounded monthly cash decline—from seven payments to six—to rounding; the unrounded averages were 6.75 and 6.48. [1]
The source
- Federal Reserve Financial Services: Payment diary ↗
Source date 2026-05-11 · reviewed October 30, 2026 - Federal Reserve Board: Noncash payment study ↗
Source date 2026-07-01 · reviewed October 30, 2026
About this item: Retrospective report. No first-hand reporting or independent testing is claimed. Corrections policy.
