# Most common way of payment **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617 "2019-10-11T03:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/42 "2019-10-12T14:12:42Z")
USA, contactless credit card whenever possible, otherwise it works as chip and sign. Apple Pay on occasion. I use Venmo to send and receive money from friends, for example last burg when for dinner and drinks, I paid for dinner and he paid for two rounds of drinks so he just Venmoed me $30 or so to balance it out. Cash is only for street festivals, often the food or drinks cash line is shorter. Now that my fantasy baseball commissioner finally got Venmo, I may never write another check again. For the past few years, they have been my only checks written. When visiting the U.K. earlier this year, I used my contactless card almost everywhere. I only had to get cash for a couple of pubs with a £5 minimum to pay by card and one stubborn place which refused to take American chip and sign cards. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/43 "2019-10-12T14:21:14Z")
If I’d read the first post, I would have voted “cash” instead of “credit card”. Most of the money I spend is on credit cards, but I probably have more cash transactions. On-line, i mostly use PayPal, but it uses my credit card. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/44 "2019-10-12T14:32:45Z")
I haven’t seen barter mentioned yet as a form of payment. As a small business owner, I barter my services with several other local business people. It generally is a win-win situation\*\*\*\*\*. \*\*\*\*\*of course you should consult a tax professional.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/45 "2019-10-12T20:53:36Z")
I use cash surprisingly often. For small transactions (under $10 or $20) but also to pay our cleaning service, to pay nurse who does my footcare, to pay for meals at the cheap Indian restaurant that has a sign asking to pay with cash, my barber and my wife’s hairdresser, and to pay my doctor if he has to fill out a form (for my driver’s licence renewal every two years after 80). Except for that restaurant, none of the others are set up for CCs. Nearly everything else with a CC. We write a few checks a year, mostly insurance premiums. My wife had to write one last week to the passport office as they accept no other form of payment. Most bills are paid online. Some are automatically debited from our account: our monthly condo fees and payment in full of our CC balance (so we never pay interest). ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/46 "2019-10-12T21:34:17Z")
There have been studies done about this. You might look at the **2019 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice** > [@](#): > > The high-level findings are: > > ``` > Consumers used cash in 26 percent of transactions, down from 30 percent in 2017 > Debit cards were the most used instrument, accounting for 28 percent of payments > Credit cards accounted for 23 percent of payments, a 2 percentage point increase from 2017 > Cash was used heavily for small-value payments, representing 49 percent of payments under $10 > The share of cash use among individuals under 25 years old is the highest of any age group > In-person payments accounted for 73 percent of all transactions. Participants used cash for 35 percent of in-person payments > > ``` > **[2019 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice - San Francisco Fed](https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/fed-notes/2019/06/2019-findings-from-the-diary-of-consumer-payment-choice/)** > > In its fifth iteration, the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice data show that cash continues to be used extensively for small-value purchases - representing nearly half of all payments under $10 and 42 percent of payments less than $25. However,... ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/47 "2019-10-12T21:45:02Z")
Credit card for most stuff. We have a lot of our routine bills (cable, cellphone, newspaper, and the like) charged to a credit card so we get the cashback bonus. The credit cards themselves are autopayed out of a bank account – but we are religious about reviewing the bills every month. We use cash fairly frequently for expenses for which it’s easier. For example, entry fees at the bridge club – the club owners aren’t set up for credit card payment. When we go out with others and there’s one tab for the table, we pay our share in cash. Tuesday evening bridge, drinks after the game, and Thursday afternoon bridge runs us about $60 per week. Checks are used infrequently. If one of my sibs for example sends flowers to a funeral on behalf of the whole family, I send a check for my share. We pay our real estate taxes via check. I think I have a debit card (it’s also my ATM card), but I’ve never used it. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/48 "2019-10-14T18:45:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I haven’t seen barter mentioned yet as a form of payment. As a small business owner, I barter my services with several other local business people. It generally is a win-win situation\*\*\*\*\*. But, the OP is asking about an average day, and the majority of your transactions. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/49 "2019-10-14T19:20:16Z")
Bills are paid online out of my checking account. For all day-to-day spending, I use a credit card, which I typically pay off about twice per month (once every couple of weeks), partly because I don’t like to let the balances get too high and partly to make sure that I don’t ever miss the minimum monthly payment if I get busy and forgetful. I never let the balance carry over from one month to the next. I always pay it off. I own my home (and a rental property) so no mortgages to pay. Back when I had a mortgage on the house I would write a check for that (online payments weren’t much of a thing back then) and when I had a mortgage on the rental property I would pay that online from my checking account. Any time I buy anything for the rental property, that comes out of a separate checking account, so either it gets paid directly online or it gets paid by debit card (buying supplies at Lowes, for example). I own all of my vehicles so no car payment of any sort either. The last time I had a car payment, Ronald Reagan was president. I hate everyone trying to track me by my mobile phone, and I don’t have a lot of trust in the security of a phone, so I do not pay anything at all, ever, with my phone. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/50 "2019-10-14T20:12:16Z")
Cash for the small stuff. Debit card for groceries, cigarettes. Automatic bank deduction for cell phone, internet/cable, mortgage. Checks for utilities, HOA fees, horse board, farrier, therapist, chiropractor, equine therapist… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617.md?page=2)