What is the most popular payment method in the United States?
Cards. Consumers made 16 credit card and 15 debit card payments in an average month of 2025, two thirds of all payments, according to the 2026 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice. Debit still leads by total transactions, with 99.3 billion payments in 2024 against 67.1 billion on credit cards.
In detail
Cards. In the 2026 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, consumers made 16 credit card and 15 debit card payments in an average month of 2025, out of 47 payments in total, so cards covered about two thirds of all payments.
Debit leads by total transactions
The Federal Reserve Payments Study counts 187.7 billion card payments in 2024: 99.3 billion on debit cards, 67.1 billion on credit cards and 21.3 billion on prepaid cards. Credit is gaining ground, driven by rewards cards, and credit card payments grew faster than debit for the first time in almost a decade.
The networks
Visa and Mastercard lead, with American Express and Discover as three-party networks. Debit runs on a second layer of networks, such as STAR, Accel, PULSE and NYCE. Under the Durbin Amendment, every debit card must carry at least two unaffiliated networks, including for online payments.
Around the cards
ACH carries bank payments, Zelle moves money between accounts, and wallets such as Apple Pay and PayPal sit on top of cards.
What it means for payment operators
For operators serving US merchants, card acceptance comes first, with debit routing as a real cost lever. Routing rules that choose between debit networks, plus wallets and pay by bank, make the US checkout complete.