National Payment Volumes, Detailed Data, DFIPS (CY 2021)
ACH, Checks, Wires, and Alternative Payments
Released March 2025
The Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRPS) is an ongoing effort to estimate aggregate trends in noncash payments in the United States. Estimates reported here are based on the Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS), which collects voluntary data from commercial banks, savings institutions, and credit unions.
This release contains national estimates of the number and value of transaction accounts, checks, automated clearinghouse (ACH) transfers, and wire transfers for the United States in the years 2015, 2018, and 2021. The release also includes estimates of certain alternative payments, namely bill payments and person-to-person (P2P) payments initiated at depository institution-sponsored websites and apps. The estimates encompass all payments from U.S. domiciled accounts, including those made by U.S. consumers, businesses, and government entities.
Estimates reported here provide detail associated with and revisions to the top-line estimates reported in April 2023 and include, among other breakouts, business/consumer and domestic/cross-border categories. Estimates of check-image deposits, same-day ACH payments, and immediately available P2P transactions are also included. Revised data in this release supersede previously published data.
Key Findings
ACH Transfers
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The total number of all (commercial and U.S. Treasury) ACH transfers grew substantially faster from 2018 to 2021 than in the previous three-year period (8.2 versus 4.8 percent per year) and reached 34.2 billion in 2021.
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Direct estimates of commercial ACH transfers from DFIPS reveal that the average values of network transfers (those processed by network operators) continued to be substantially lower than the average values of in-house on-us transfers (those that remain within a single depository institution). For example, in 2021 the average values of ACH credits were $3,616 for network transfers and $26,862 for in-house on-us transfers; for ACH debit, the average values were $1,525 for network transfers and $20,062 for in-house on-us transfers. Such differences in average values occur, in part, because some types of in-house on-us payment processing involves offsetting account-to-account distribution and consolidation payments that have little effect on the number of transfers but tend to replicate and thereby inflate the value of in-house on-us transfers.1
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Estimates of total ACH value, taken from DFIPS but aligned with network operator data to avoid the effects of offsetting payments on value, suggest the total value of all ACH transfers reached $86.59 trillion in 2021. The value of ACH transfers grew 12.6 percent per year from 2018 to 2021, more than twice as fast as from 2015 to 2018.
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In 2021, business payers made most commercial ACH credit transfers: 85 percent by number and 97 percent by value. These transfers grew more rapidly by both number and value from 2018 to 2021 than in the prior three-year period. Though their value share of commercial ACH debit transfers was 70 percent in 2021, business ACH debit transfers, paid by a business and initiated by the payee’s depository institution, made up a much smaller share by number, just 20 percent.
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Consumer ACH debit transfers, paid by a consumer and initiated by the payee’s depository institution, grew by double digits annually from 2018 to 2021, increasing 10.5 percent by number and 14.8 percent by value per year, compared with declines over the prior three-year period. Consumer ACH credit transfers grew even faster from 2018 to 2021 (34.7 percent by number and 25.4 percent by value per year), increasing their share of all commercial ACH credit transfers to 15 percent by number and 3 percent by value in 2021.
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Same-day ACH transfers, first introduced in September 2016, continued to make up a relatively small percentage of all commercial ACH transfers in 2021, 6 percent by number and 4 percent by value. However, starting from low bases, growth in same-day ACH transfers from 2018 to 2021 was considerably higher than for commercial ACH transfers overall.
Checks
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Checks paid continued to decline by number, dropping from 13.6 billion in 2018 to 11.1 billion in 2021. By value, checks remained roughly stable over the same period, reaching $27.44 trillion in 2021.
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Consumer checks declined faster by number than business checks from 2018 to 2021 (9.3 percent per year compared with 4.0 percent). As a result, the number of consumer checks (5.2 billion) was less than the number of business checks (5.7 billion) for the first time in 2021. By value, business checks represented 76 percent of all commercial checks in 2021.
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The average values of both consumer and business checks continued to increase from 2018 to 2021. By 2021, consumer checks averaged $1,249, and business checks averaged $3,601.
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In 2021, 52 percent of consumer and business checks were deposited as images, more than double the 22 percent share in 2015.
Wire Transfers
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From 2018 to 2021, commercial (non-U.S. Treasury) wire transfers originated from accounts domiciled in the United States grew by double digits annually in number and value, reaching 387.7 million transactions and $1,441.09 trillion in 2021.
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The average value of a wire transfer originated fell by less than 1 percent annually from 2018 to 2021, substantially slower than the decline of 7 percent annually from 2015 to 2018.
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While businesses, typically banks and other types of financial institutions, continue to be the main originators of wire transfers, consumer wire transfers were 41.9 million in 2021, just under 11 percent of all wires originated. By value, consumer wires totaled $4.27 trillion in the same year, a smaller 0.3 percent of all wires originated.
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Most U.S.-originated wire transfers continue to be sent to domestic payees. In 2021, domestic wires accounted for 62 percent of all wires originated by number and 68 percent by value.
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Following a decline from 2015 to 2018, cross-border wires originated from accounts domiciled in the United States grew substantially from 2018 to 2021 in both number and value. These cross-border wire transfers exhibited annual growth rates of 15.5 percent and 13.0 percent, respectively, which were both higher than those of domestic wires.
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Interbank transfers continue to account for around two-thirds of all wires originated by number and slightly more than half by value.
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Wire transfers received, which include both domestic wires and cross-border wires that were sent from other countries, increased 9.6 percent per year by number and 8.4 percent per year by value from 2018 to 2021.
Alternative Payments
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In 2021, 2.0 billion P2P transfers were initiated via depository institutions’ websites or apps, reaching $0.45 trillion in total value.
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P2P transfers continued to grow rapidly, increasing 51.0 percent by number and 43.0 percent by value per year from 2018 to 2021.
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In 2021, for approximately 73 percent of P2P payments, funds were made immediately available, in 30 minutes or less, to recipients.
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The number of bill payments via a depository institution’s website or app stayed roughly level from 2018 to 2021. The average value of these bill payment transactions continued to increase, reaching $660 in 2021.