Though paper checks are clunky, unpopular and outdated, they still dominate the American economy in terms of payment methods, with more than $22 trillion in checks written each year.
That’s bad news for consumers, though, who have made it clear they feel it’s time to #KilltheCheck. They rated checks as the worst disbursement method, giving it a score of 4.4 out of 100 in the inaugural PYMNTS Disbursement Satisfaction Index™, in collaboration with Ingo Money. Meanwhile, alternatives like non-instant credit (48.3), instant credit (71.9) and direct deposit (100.0) all massively outscored the paper check.
“The progression of speed and experience for consumers from paper check to direct deposit and now push payments is undeniable,” said Drew Edwards, chief executive officer at Ingo Money. “Consumers expect every aspect of their lives to be instant, including how they get paid and how quickly they can access funds. Creating a benchmark for measuring how and why consumers get paid, as well as their preferences for each [payment method], is critical for continuing to evolve ever faster disbursement methods.”
Here are the numbers:
22 trillion | Number of paper checks written each year
2,243 | Number of data points in the PYMNTS-Ingo Money Disbursement Satisfaction Index™
750 | Average value of disbursements paid annually via paper checks in USD
84 | Percentage of respondents who received at least one type of disbursement in the last 12 months
75 | Percentage of people earning less than $60K who also used instant payments who were also mostly or completely satisfied with them
70| Percentage of respondents who received two or more disbursements in the past year
36 | Percentage of disbursements that were paid with direct deposit, the most commonly used payment method
30 | Percentage of people who received non-government disbursements through paper checks
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