The increasing availability and convenience of payment alternatives, along with generally lower costs, have affected how people choose to pay for their purchases. Payments that a few years ago were being made in paper form--by checks or in cash--are today being made electronically.
Indeed, a recent Federal Reserve study found that the number of retail electronic payments in the United States--such as credit cards, debit cards, or automated clearinghouse (ACH) payments--exceeded check payments for the first time in 2003.