Last week, the Federal Reserve published its findings from the 6th Diary of Consumer Payment Choice (DCPC), which includes part of the DCPC 2019 survey and an additional post-outbreak supplement survey.
The supplement asked 10 Covid-19 survey questions comparing payment behaviour in response to covid-19 with the data from the 2019 diary. In general, “participants reported holding more cash on their persons and especially as a store of value in their homes, compared to trends reported in the 2019 Diary.”
Key findings include
- Approximately 20% of participants have switched to paying online or over the phone, with most of the switching taking place at restaurants, fast food locations, and big-box stores.
- 70% of individuals said they were not avoiding cash.
- Nearly two-thirds had made no in-person payments since 10th March; while these individuals were not necessarily deliberately avoiding cash usage, it implies people are not spending their extra cash holdings.
