The switch to electronic payments.

• Position: Cash and checks now account for only 45 percent of consumers - Brief article

The switch to electronic payments: In the past, when consumers bought something in the store or paid a bill, they usually paid by cash or check. No longer. Cash and checks now account for only 45 percent of consumers' monthly payments--down from 57 percent in 2001 and 49 percent in 2003, according to the nationwide consumer-payment preferences study conducted by ABA and Boston-based...