Check Processing Facts

• There are over 1.2 million NSF checks written each year
• 40% of the population is totally check dependent
• The face value of the checks written has increased 25% during the last five years
• Total face value of checks written through 2005 will exceed 14.3 trillion dollars
• Consumers prefer checks four to one over debit cards
• 88% of the population, over 174 million consumers, have a check account; only half of those have a debit or credit card
• 72% of consumers believe that their check use will increase or stay the same over the next year
• 53% of retailers are reporting continued check growth (on-line survey by Stores Magazine and the Reid System)
• Checks represent 24% of all retail sales as a significant part of the overall payment system
• Americans write an average of 25 checks per month

Check Processing Market Trends

• Volume: Last year over $2.6 trillion in checks were written to purchase goods and services at point-of-sale
• Trends: The Federal Reserve predicts the number of check transactions will exceed 73 billion items by the year 2005 (currently at 48 billion)

ECC Statistics:

• Year 1999: 600,000 paper checks were converted into electronic transactions
• Year 2000: 32 million paper checks were converted into electronic transactions involving only 50,000 merchants.

Check Processing Services

check processing facts