Top 6 takeaways from the Federal Reserve’s 2016 Payments Study

The Federal Reserve has released its 2016 Payments Study, providing the public with a detailed analysis of aggregate trends impacting U.S. non-cash payments.

A triennial report, the 2016 study factors in a wide range of data from 2012 to 2015. According to a press release issued by the Federal Reserves Policy Committee, it is the agency’s most comprehensive look at the U.S. payments industry to date, as the data collected was “substantially expanded” to incorporate additional fraud-related information not included in previous reports.

Thought leaders at CO-OP have since had the opportunity to review the 2016 study. Here is what your credit union needs to know:

1. Credit card usage surged from 2012 to 2015 – a full 8 percent (CAGR) compared to 5.1 percent for the 2002 – 2012 period. Resource this product well.
2. Debit transactions are also on the rise. If your annual growth rate for debit transactions falls below 7.1 percent, you are losing ground to the competition. Take the necessary steps to close the gap.

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