Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Digital payments last year generated $354 billion in economic output and supported more than 2 million jobs in the United States, says a report from the Electronic Transactions Association. In addition, each job directly related to digital payments supported an additional 2.6 jobs in the economy outside the digital- payments industry, according to the report.
Digital payments also expands consumers’ liquidity and reduces friction at the point-of-sale, generating an estimated $72 billion to $287 billion in incremental personal consumption in 2024, the report found. That economic output supported 1.7 million jobs and $199 billion in gross domestic product midway through the 2024 calendar year.
The study, conducted in the fall of 2025 by PwC on behalf of the ETA, relies on data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Census Bureau. The study is the ETA’s first assessment of the economic value of digital payments across online, in-person, and mobile commerce.
Digital payments enable faster checkout and reduced cash handling for businesses, saving them an estimated 806 million hours annually, or the equivalent of 365,000 full-time workers, the report says. Those efficiencies support 997,000 jobs or $67.6 billion in labor income, and $142.4 billion in GDP, that would not exist in a cash-only economy, the report says.
Payment innovations also enable the creation of micro- and small businesses, enabling them to expand sales and generate an estimated $34 billion in revenue, supporting 301,000 jobs, $16.4 billion in labor income, and $28.2 billion in GDP, according to the report.
Expanded access to electronic-payment acceptance generated an estimated $33.9 billion in incremental sales for new merchants in retail, accommodation, food services, and other services, according to the report. These additional sales supported 301,200 jobs, and $28.2 billion in GDP, the report says.
“Electronic payments support higher levels of consumer spending, generate meaningful cost savings for businesses through faster and more efficient transactions, and help new firms start and scale by reducing acceptance barriers and improving cash flow,” the report says. “These catalytic effects illustrate the wider economic value unlocked by modern payments infrastructure.”
The U.S. payments industry directly supported 556,600 full- and part-time jobs in 2024, says the report, which also finds that each direct job in the payments industry supports another 2.6 jobs elsewhere in the U.S. economy. Including the direct, indirect, and induced employment effects, the payments industry supported $210 billion in labor income.
“These results highlight the payments industry’s role not only as an operational hub of U.S. commerce but also as an economic enabler that expands consumption, strengthens business productivity, and lowers barriers to entrepreneurship,” the report concludes. “Electronic payments support higher levels of consumer spending, generate meaningful cost savings for businesses through faster and more efficient transactions, and help new firms start and scale by reducing acceptance barriers and improving cash flow.”
