A recent GoBankingRate.com survey reported that 38% of the surveyed consumers no longer use their checkbooks. Another 36% only use their checkbooks once a month or few per year. So what does this tell us about our consumer payment method?

As you might know, many merchants no longer accept checks.  They continue to deal with insufficient funds and fraudulent activities of the persons writing them. Instead consumers are using their debit or credit cards. Many people are setting up automatic bill paying online.

Plastic is Now

The advancement in technology has provided many great conveniences for consumers regarding purchases. Whether it is a debit card or credit card, the technology alleviates the need to carry any checkbooks.  

The question then becomes, should you use a debit card or credit card?  According to Justin Pritchard’s article, there are many benefits to both.  See those benefits below:

Debit Cards

• Keep you out of debt
• Cost of use is low
• Merchants costs are low
• Connected to your checking account
• No credit needed

Credit Cards

• Less risk
• Additional protection
• Builds your credit
• Rewards for using it
• High limits

In either regard, it is important to be smart with your use of these plastic cards.  If you choose to use your debit card, it is important to keep track of your transactions in a ledger to know what your balance is.  If you choose a credit card, its important to also keep track of how much you are putting on your credit card to ensure you can pay it off at the end of the month to avoid any interest charges.

In the end, it looks like checks are on their way out the door and plastic will be the trend for payments into the future.  Be sure to be smart about your purchases and ensure you have the money to be able to pay for the items your are purchasing.