• Per the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland brief of Sept. 21, 2026, ACH rose from 25% to 41% of B2B payments by number between 2015 and 2024, while checks fell from 32% to 13%.
• Checks were the only B2B payment method whose count declined, from 4.6 billion in 2015 to 2.7 billion in 2024.
• Nominal check value was $15.0 trillion in 2024 versus $15.4 trillion in 2015, but checks fell from 1.8% to 1.4% of total B2B value.
• The average B2B check in 2024 was $5,577; the brief attributes the decline mainly to firms using checks less often, not abandoning them.
• Why firms keep writing checks is not answered by the brief's data; it defers business processes to part two of its series, so treat motives as unproven.

The check was expected to be gone by now, and it is shrinking but not gone. The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's Payments Research Brief of Sept. 21, 2026, titled "B2B Payments: A Gradual Shift from Checks to Electronic Payment Methods," shows checks still totaled $15.0 trillion in 2024. Its central finding, though, is a steady move to electronic rails: checks are a shrinking slice of business payments by count and a very small slice by value.

ACH overtook checks by payment count

The brief reports that ACH grew from 25% of B2B payments by number in 2015 to 41% in 2024, while checks fell from 32% to 13%. Checks were the only B2B payment method whose count declined, from 4.6 billion payments in 2015 to 2.7 billion in 2024. The brief draws on the triennial Federal Reserve Payments Study, Nacha ACH statistics and other industry data. It was co-authored by Cleveland Fed, Kansas City Fed and Federal Reserve Financial Services staff.

Checks are a $15 trillion figure but a 1.4% share

Nominal check value was $15.0 trillion in 2024 against $15.4 trillion in 2015, according to the brief, so the headline dollar figure barely moved. Context matters, though: checks fell from 1.8% to 1.4% of total B2B payment value over the same period. The average B2B check was $5,577 in 2024. The large dollar total therefore reflects the size of the overall B2B economy rather than checks dominating the dollars moved.

Firms use checks less often, not never

The brief says the decline comes mainly from businesses using checks less frequently, not from stopping altogether. It cites Association for Financial Professionals surveys in which 91% of businesses used checks in 2024 and 87% in 2025. The brief notes that ACH may be a close substitute for checks on medium-value payments. The surveys' sample sizes are not given in the brief, so the usage rates are best read as indicative.

The reasons for check use remain an open question

The brief does not directly explain why businesses keep using checks; it says the business processes and challenges behind check use are covered in part two of a three-part series. PYMNTS frames the issue as moving money versus settling an obligation and cites a Plaid-partnered report that more than two-thirds of surveyed firms lose or delay revenue when payments fail. That is PYMNTS and its partners' framing, with no sample size or survey date given, not a Fed finding.

What this means for payments and finance teams

Finance teams should plan for a mixed-rail environment in which checks persist at low frequency, and should measure their own check share by count and by value rather than assume the national average. Providers pitching check replacement should be asked for evidence on the specific use cases involved. Watch parts two and three of the Fed series, which address business processes and instant payments, for evidence on why checks persist.