From Seashells to Bytes Electronic Payments: The Wave of the Future, Here Today Check Use Slowing but Still Important Cash Is Still Popular Consumers' Corner |
Debit Cards
When you use your debit card, you typically enter a secret personal identification number, or PIN, and the money is quickly, sometimes instantaneously, taken out of your checking account. It is then transferred into the account of the party you are paying.
Debit cards account for more than half of the overall growth in electronic payments; payments in the U.S. recently doubled to nearly 16 billion transactions. The average dollar amount of a transaction is $40, according to studies, mostly for routine retail purchases.