Death of Cash and Check-based payments a matter of time, literally
Despite the relentless march of credit cards, debit cards and mobile payments, Americans wrote 17.3 billion checks in 2015, according to a survey released by the Federal Reserve last month. That compares with the 41.9 billion checks written in 2000 when the Fed started conducting the survey, which it does every three years.While check payments fell at an annual rate of 4.4% between 2012 and 2015, the drop represented a slowdown in the rate of descent for the first time.
Source: Go Ahead, Write a Check for Your Coffee, I’ve Got All Day – WSJ
For the team here at Tematica Research, paying by cash is typically the last resort and using a check is really only for bills or when mailing payment to someone. The thought of pulling out the checkbook at a retail store is just a memory from decades ago.
But there is still a small — yet aging — group that is clinging to the old form of payment. Of course, the issue of security is still a driving headwind to full cashless payment adoption, as is the impact of credit ratings that have been hit during recent economic downturns, which is reflected in our Cash-strapped Consumer theme.
Our view of the theme here has us looking at those companies that are continuing the enable the cashless payment, as well as those that are providing the security factors around it.
