In addition, businesses that receive large numbers of checks from customers are obtaining their customers' permission to convert the checks into ACH payments. As a result, the ACH has exhibited significant growth in recent years and is contributing to the decline in the number of payments being processed as checks.
It remains to be seen how significant an effect recently emerging instruments such as payroll cards, stored-value cards, or electronic benefits transfer instruments will have on the payments landscape. Whether or not these instruments are broadly accepted will depend largely on consumer and business preferences, and on how much of an improvement these instruments are over competing payment instruments.