ACH payments surpass checks as the top B2B payment method in 2024
In 2024, U.S. businesses processed 8.7 billion ACH payments, making it the most common B2B payment method, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City analysis. ACH accounted for 41% of all B2B payments in 2024, up from 25% a decade earlier, while check usage fell to 13% from 32% in 2015.
The total value of ACH‑based B2B payments nearly doubled to $70 trillion by 2024, up from $36 trillion in 2015. Wire transfers remained the highest‑value payment method, reaching $1 quadrillion in 2024 compared with $820 trillion in 2015. Check‑based B2B payment value stayed flat at about $15 trillion over the same period. Credit and debit card use for business payments grew but remained under $4 trillion each, far below ACH, wire and check volumes. Credit cards ranked second in transaction volume after ACH, with debit cards third, checks fourth and wire fifth, according to the Fed study. Despite the decline in check transaction share, the Fed study concluded that nearly 90 percent of businesses still used checks in 2025, showing that most firms have not abandoned the instrument entirely.
Prior to 2015, paper checks were the leading form of B2B payment in the United States; by 2021 they had dropped to fourth place among five payment types, based on transaction count.
What we know
ACH was the most popular B2B payment form in 2024
Number of B2B ACH transactions more than doubled from 3.6 billion in 2015 to 8.7 billion in 2024
ACH share of B2B payments was 41% in 2024 versus 25% a decade earlier; check share fell to 13% in 2024 from 32% in 2015
Value of ACH B2B payments nearly doubled to $70 trillion by 2024 from $36 trillion in 2015
Wire payment value rose to $1 quadrillion in 2024 from $820 trillion in 2015