A recent Federal Reserve study shows that in 2003, for the first time ever, the number of electronic payments in the United States exceeded the number made by check. Although checks are likely to remain an important part of the payments system for some time to come, a long-term decline in the use of the check appears, finally, to be taking hold.
Still, it is important to remember that this changeover has been a long time in coming. After all, electronic wire transfers have been around for most of our lives and debit cards and the automated clearinghouse (ACH) system were developed three decades ago.