Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Notes on the Top 100 Data, DFIPS (CY 2015-2022)

Description

The Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRPS) is an ongoing effort to estimate aggregate trends in noncash payments in the United States. This release contains annual estimates for the largest commercial banks, savings institutions, and credit unions in the United States – collectively referred to as the “Top 100” for purposes of this release – for the years 2015-2022. The release presents the Top 100 estimates on their own in the form of annual time series, as well as in combination with national estimates calculated by the FRPS every three years based on data collected from all depository institutions (DIs). In these triennial years, the release decomposes national estimates (“Total”) into separate components related to the Top 100 and the remaining institutions (“All Other DIs”).

The Top 100 estimates provide information about trends and year-over-year changes in payments and related accounts for the largest DIs that play an important role in the U.S. payment system. Estimates at an annual frequency may shed light on changes in years between when the FRPS produces triennial aggregate estimates. When viewed alongside the triennial estimates for Total and All Other DIs, the estimates for the Top 100 DIs provide insight into how different DI groups contribute to national aggregates, as well as similarities and differences in their payment and related activity over time.

The FRPS webpage contains further information on the study, including reports, past data releases, survey instruments, and glossaries.

Sources

The FRPS produces national estimates of the number and value of noncash payments based on information collected in the Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS) and the Networks, Processors, and Issuers Payments Surveys (NPIPS). Other sources used to generate the estimates include Federal Reserve data and other information in the public domain. The information in this release comprises annual estimates based on survey data collected in the DFIPS for years 2015-2022 for the Top 100 DIs – the 100 largest DIs by the value of transaction deposits plus the value of money market deposit accounts (the Top 100 group includes 85 commercial banks, 5 savings institutions, and 10 credit unions). Triennial national estimates also included in this release are based on a combination of Top 100 data and information collected every three years from a representative sample of smaller DIs.

Important Data Considerations

• This release includes some revisions and supersedes any previously published estimates.
• All estimates in this release use data from the DFIPS as the only primary data source, in contrast to the national estimates released by FRPS every three years, which incorporate additional primary data sources. As a result, some estimates presented in this release, including the Total estimates for triennial years, differ from certain estimates presented in prior releases. For example, in this release, check and ACH credit estimates do not include Treasury payments, while ACH transfers are not adjusted to account for offset entries. See detailed notes on Data Tables and Figures below and Notes on the Detailed Data, DFIPS, 2015-2021 for more detail.
• The annual collection of Top 100 data yields an unbalanced panel dataset of repeated observations for the largest DIs. Together with information collected every three years from a representative sample of smaller DIs, these data support the production of national estimates on a triennial basis, as well as the annual Top 100 estimates reported in this release.
• Participation in FRPS surveys is voluntary. Non-responses or partial responses can create inconsistencies in the data between survey years and between items in individual survey responses. For consistency and to ensure related variables add up, the study methodology imputes missing data.
• A new data imputation process was introduced for the DFIPS detailed data release of CY2021 data (see Notes on the Detailed Data, DFIPS, 2015-2021 for more detail). The new process uses aggregate survey data from multiple years to impute missing items for a consistent set of respondents both within and across years. This process results in estimates that are more precise and have greater cross-year consistency, as they are based on a panel of (actual or imputed) data for the same set of respondents.
• In addition to improving the precision and consistency of national estimates for triennial years, the new imputation process allows the production of annual Top 100 estimates reported in this release. In this relatively small census, non-participation from year to year can have large effects on the estimates. The new panel imputation process stabilizes the estimates by accounting for the unique characteristics of each respondent for years in which their data are missing.
• Because the imputation process uses the full panel for all respondents and all years, estimates for prior years can change when new information is added, resulting in revisions in the current release to previously published estimates.

Top 100 Data Considerations

• Although the Top 100 DIs comprise a small fraction of the nearly 10,000 DIs in the United States, they account for the majority of all transaction deposit accounts. In 2021, the Top 100 DIs accounted for approximately two-thirds of all transaction deposit accounts, with the share varying between consumer and business accounts.
   

  Table I. Top 100 shares of transaction deposit accounts by accountholder type, 2021

  Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS)	2021
  	Number (Percent)	Balance (Percent)
  Transaction deposit accounts			63.6	68.0
  Consumer	64.1	60.4
  Business	60.3	72.8

  Source: Payment Volumes for Top 100 DIs, DFIPS (CY 2015–22), Table 2


• Consistent with holding the majority of transaction deposit accounts, the Top 100 DIs also clear most payments. In 2021, the Top 100 DIs accounted for at least two-thirds of total national volume for each payment type, with the share being higher when measured by value, and particularly high for some payment types (for example, ACH credit, Wire, and P2P transfers).
   

  Table II. Top 100 shares of payments by payment type, 2021

  Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS)	2021
  	Number (Percent)	Value (Percent)
  Checks paid			67.6	70.4
  ACH credit transfers originated	92.0	96.1
  ACH debit transfers received	68.2	90.3
  Wire transfers originated	91.4	99.3
  Alternative payments via DI website or app
  Bill payment transactions	82.8	87.9
  Person-to-person (P2P) transfers	94.4	93.9

  Source: Payment Volumes for Top 100 DIs, DFIPS (CY 2015–22), Tables 4,6,8,10


• The ability to capture a large share of the market from a relatively small number of respondents is the primary reason the FRPS conducts an annual census of the Top 100 DIs. While the Top 100 are similar to All Other DIs in many respects, there are notable differences between those groups beyond simply their size, with customer mix being particularly important. The implication is that estimates for the Top 100 DIs, or year-over-year rates of change for those estimates, should not be directly extrapolated to national estimates. Some examples of important similarities and differences between the Top 100 and All Other DIs are as follows.

Accountholder Type: Consumer and Business

• The extent to which the Top 100 DIs are similar to or different from All Other DIs often varies between consumer and business accounts. The breakdown between the two accountholder types is broadly similar for the Top 100 and All Other DIs when measured by the number of accounts. By contrast, business accounts make up a substantially greater proportion of balances for the Top 100 than for All Other DIs, driven by average business account balances being almost twice as high for the Top 100 DIs as for All Other DIs (Top 100 Data and Figures, DFIPS, Table 2).
   

  Table III. Shares of transaction deposit accounts by accountholder type, Total, Top 100, and All Other DIs, 2021

  Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS)	Number (Percent)			Balance (Percent)
  	Total	Top 100	All Other	Total	Top 100	All Other
  Transaction deposit accounts
  Consumer	88.4	89.0	87.3	39.0	34.7	48.2
  Business	11.6	11.0	12.7	61.0	65.3	51.8

  Source: Payment Volumes for Top 100 DIs, DFIPS (CY 2015–22), Table 2


• Average payment values tend to be higher for the Top 100 DIs than for All Other DIs, with the differences more pronounced for some payment types and for business payments. In 2021, the differences were small for checks and for consumer ACH credit, and debit transfers, but for others the average payment values for the Top 100 were many multiples of those of All Other DIs (for example, business ACH debit and wire transfers).
   

  Table IV. Average values by payment and accountholder type, Total, Top 100, and All Other DIs, 2021

  Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS)	Average ($)
  	Total	Top 100	All Other
  Checks paid	2,482	2,585	2,267
  Consumer	1,249	1,289	1,185
  Business	3,601	3,579	3,660
  ACH credit transfers originated	7,514	7,852	3,636
  Consumer	885	789	1,246
  Business	8,162	8,436	4,363
  ACH debit transfers received	4,303	5,697	1,310
  Consumer	807	845	738
  Business	17,202	19,823	5,421
  Wire transfers originated	3,951,543	4,297,222	298,897
  Consumer	455,774	533,366	100,556
  Business	4,377,902	4,704,588	356,616
  Alternative payments via DI website or app
  Bill payment transactions	659	700	462
  Person-to-person (P2P) transfers	224	223	243

  Source: Payment Volumes for Top 100 DIs, DFIPS (CY 2015–22), Tables 4,6,8,10


• For most payment types, annual payments per account are markedly higher for the Top 100 DIs than for All Other DIs. Typically, the differences are greater for business accounts and when looking at value of payments. In 2021, the differences ranged from negligible (number and value of consumer checks) to a factor of more than 100x (value of business wire transfers).
   

  Table V. Annual payments per account by payment and accountholder type, Total, Top 100, and All Other DIs, 2021

  Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS)	Number			Value ($)
  	Total	Top 100	All Other	Total	Top 100	All Other
  Checks paid	29.2	31.0	26.1	72,550.5	80,217.9	59,129.2
  Consumer	15.7	15.1	16.8	19,652.5	19,498.9	19,926.4
  Business	132.0	159.8	89.9	475,295.7	571,797.2	328,921.0
  ACH credit transfers originated	34.6	50.1	7.6	260,353.5	393,227.6	27,765.5
  Consumer	3.5	4.3	2.0	3,085.8	3,390.5	2,542.1
  Business	271.9	420.7	46.2	2,219,089.5	3,549,338.9	201,351.8
  ACH debit transfers received	48.8	52.3	42.6	209,861.6	297,869.0	55,810.1
  Consumer	43.4	43.7	42.8	35,029.6	36,949.2	31,604.3
  Business	89.6	121.6	41.0	1,540,965.0	2,410,269.5	222,393.9
  Wire transfers originated	1.2	1.7	0.3	4,563,928.3	7,124,336.9	82,089.9
  Consumer	0.1	0.2	0.1	64,739.6	97,025.1	7,129.9
  Business	8.9	13.6	1.7	38,818,997.9	64,017,273.3	597,961.4
  Alternative payments via DI website or app
  Bill payment transactions	7.9	10.3	3.8	5,218.7	7,210.9	1,731.5
  Person-to-person (P2P) transfers	5.4	8.0	0.8	1,215.0	1,792.3	204.4

  Source: Payment Volumes for Top 100 DIs, DFIPS (CY 2015–22), Tables 2,4,6,8,10

Payment Type: On-us/Book Transfer and Interbank/Network

• The estimated proportion of payments between customers of a single bank (on-us, in-house on-us, book transfer) is generally higher for the Top 100 DIs than for All Other DIs, with the difference being greater for some payment types and when measured by value. In 2021, the differences were particularly pronounced for ACH debit and wire transfers.
• In most instances, the differences in on-us shares between Top 100 and All Other DIs are driven by differences between the institutions’ mix of customers and their needs. For example, while most checks are business-to-consumer, many credit unions serve only consumer customers, contributing to All Other DIs’ lower share of on-us checks.
• In a few instances, by contrast, the differences reflect idiosyncratic practices that can result in on-us shares being understated (for example, small DIs including on-us payments in batch files sent to network operators) or overstated (for example, Top 100 DIs are more likely to create offset entries, a batch-processing practice that double-counts the value of a collection of ACH payments by consolidating them into a single, offsetting payment).
   

  Table VI. Shares of payments by clearing method, Total, Top 100, and All Other DIs, 2021

  Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS)	Number (Percent)			Value (Percent)
  	Total	Top 100	All Other	Total	Top 100	All Other
  Checks paid
  Interbank	74.7	73.3	77.6	72.1	69.8	77.7
  On-us	25.3	26.7	22.4	27.9	30.2	22.3
  ACH credit transfers originated
  Network	83.7	83.5	86.0	39.9	38.7	70.0
  In-house on-us	16.3	16.5	14.0	60.1	61.3	30.0
  ACH debit transfers received
  Network	85.1	80.9	94.2	30.3	24.3	86.5
  In-house on-us	14.9	19.1	5.8	69.7	75.7	13.5
  Wire transfers originated
  Interbank	61.7	58.9	91.4	47.0	46.7	93.2
  Book transfer	38.3	41.1	8.6	53.0	53.3	6.8

  Source: Payment Volumes for Top 100 DIs, DFIPS (CY 2015–22), Tables 4,6,8


• The difference in average value between the Top 100 and All Other DIs varies significantly based on payment types and clearing methods. Typically, average values of on-us transactions are higher for the Top 100 DIs, with the difference particularly pronounced for ACH and wire transfers. By contrast, in 2021, differences between Top 100 and All Other DIs in average values of interbank/network transactions were less pronounced for most payment types.
   

  Table VII. Average values by payment type and clearing method, Total, Top 100, and All Other DIs, 2021

  Depository and Financial Institutions Payments Survey (DFIPS)	Average ($)
  	Total	Top 100	All Other
  Checks paid	2,482	2,585	2,267
  Interbank	2,398	2,463	2,270
  On-us	2,731	2,921	2,257
  ACH credit transfers originated	7,514	7,852	3,636
  Network	3,582	3,637	2,961
  In-house on-us	27,750	29,228	7,783
  ACH debit transfers received	4,303	5,697	1,310
  Network	1,533	1,712	1,203
  In-house on-us	20,113	22,531	3,047
  Wire transfers originated	3,951,543	4,297,222	298,897
  Interbank	3,007,693	3,404,213	304,787
  Book transfer	5,475,103	5,579,305	236,528

  Source: Payment Volumes for Top 100 DIs, DFIPS (CY 2015–22), Tables 4,6,8

 

Data Tables and Figures

General Information

Scope	Unless otherwise specified, FRPS volumes (number and value) include all payments of the specified type from U.S. domiciled accounts held at private depository institutions, including those made by U.S. consumers, businesses, and state and local government entities. Payments originated by federal government agencies, including checks, ACH transfers, and wire transfers using the Federal Reserve Banks as fiscal agents, are not part of the estimates. Volumes are defined to include all payments made by consumers and non-consumers. Non-consumer payments are labeled business payments and include for-profit and non-profit enterprises, as well as state and local government agencies.
Time period	Top 100 DFIPS data reported in this release contains calendar-year estimates from 2015 to 2022. Total and All Other DIs DFIPS data in this release contains calendar-year estimates for 2015, 2018, and 2021.
Metrics	Number of accounts, value of account balances, average value of account balances. Number of payments, value of payments, average value of payments. Rates of change, calculated as compound annual growth rates (CAGRs).

Tables 1-2. Accounts

Description	Transaction deposit accounts and sweep program accounts.
Contents	Transaction deposit accounts Sweep program accounts
Allocations	Transaction deposit accounts Type of accountholder: consumer and business Retail sweep program accounts Type of accountholder: consumer and business Wholesale sweep program accounts
Notes	Estimates of transaction deposit accounts do not include general-purpose prepaid card program accounts. Sweep accounts are accounts used to automatically move funds between transaction accounts and interest-bearing accounts following predetermined rules.
Sources	DFIPS

Tables 3-4. Checks

Description	Commercial checks paid and checks deposited.
Contents	Commercial checks paid Checks deposited
Allocations	Commercial checks paid Payer type: consumer and business Clearing method: interbank and on-us Interbank clearing method: inclearings and on-us correspondent Checks deposited Depositor type: consumer and business, correspondent Consumer and business deposit method: image and other
Notes	The survey estimates total checks by collecting volumes of checks DIs pay on behalf of their nonbank customers. The approach avoids the potential for double counting by banks that serve as intermediaries, known as correspondent banks, in the check clearing process. Commercial checks include checks paid by both consumers and businesses. Commercial checks do not include those paid by the U.S. Treasury or postal money orders. Because of correspondent banking arrangements and because deposits from all sources, including other DIs, are included, estimated totals of checks deposited include some checks that would be reported by more than one bank. Correspondent check deposits account for a portion of the checks that are counted more than once and are estimated for the years in which those data were collected, 2015 and 2021. Because a check may pass through more than one correspondent bank, however, the estimates of correspondent volumes, themselves, may not account for all the times a deposited check would be counted by more than one bank.
Sources	DFIPS, Federal Reserve Banks

Tables 5-6. ACH Transfers

Description	Commercial ACH credit and debit transfers
Contents	Commercial ACH transfers
Allocations	Commercial ACH transfers Transfer type: credit and debit Credit transfers Clearing method: network and in-house on-us Payer type: consumer and business Settlement timing: same-day and non-same-day Debit transfers Clearing method: network and in-house on-us Payer type: consumer and business Settlement timing: same-day and non-same-day
Notes	Data reported are commercial ACH estimates made directly from DFIPS data. Commercial ACH includes payments made on behalf of consumer, business, and government customers of DIs surveyed in DFIPS. U.S. Treasury ACH credit payments are not included in the DFIPS estimates because they are processed and reported by the Federal Reserve Banks acting as the federal government's fiscal agent. DFIPS estimates, however, are defined to and may include any ACH credit transfers sent by DIs’ commercial customers to the U.S. Treasury as well as U.S. Treasury ACH debit transfers received and therefore funded by their commercial customers. The DFIPS asks respondents to allocate ACH transfers between on-us transfers that are processed in house only (called in-house on-us ACH transfers) and those that are sent to an operator (called network ACH transfers). Network ACH transfers may include some on-us ACH transfers, i.e., payments that are sent to an ACH operator and then sent back to the same institution for payment. DIs reported high average values of in-house on-us compared with network average values, reflected in the Commercial ACH Transfers (DFIPS) value estimates. The estimated internal transfer values and average values are higher, in part, because DIs’ internal processes sometimes involve offsetting and consolidation practices that tend to replicate and thereby inflate the value of internal transfers but not the number of transfers. As discussed in previously published reports, offset entries are used internally by some depository institutions to bundle several ACH payments, such as a collection of consumer bill payments to a single payee, into one ACH payment. Processing the bundled ACH payments along with an offset entry in this way increases the number of payments in the bundle by one while replicating or doubling the amount of value. A negligible number of ACH payments are cleared and settled bilaterally between two depository institutions through a process called direct exchange. Direct exchange transfers are included in the DFIPS commercial network estimates.
Sources	DFIPS

Tables 7-8. Wire Transfers

Description	Wire transfers originated or received over large-value funds transfer systems and internal book transfer systems.
Contents	Wire transfers originated Wire transfers received
Allocations	Wire transfers originated Payer type: consumer and business Business type: settlement/bank business and other Payee location: domestic and cross-border Clearing method: interbank and book transfer
Notes	Wire transfers originated includes those sent by DIs, and do not include wire transfers originated by the U.S. Treasury via the Federal Reserve Banks acting as the federal government’s fiscal agent. Wire transfers received includes those received by DIs, which can include wire transfers from the U.S. Treasury. A substantial portion of wire transfers are cross-border. This fact, along with the absence of U.S. Treasury volume from the estimated wires originated, contribute to differences in the national volumes of wire transfers originated and wire transfers received.
Sources	DFIPS

Tables 9-10. Alternative Payments

Description	Alternative payments via DI website or app
Contents	Bill payment transactions Person-to-person (P2P) transfers
Allocations	P2P transfers Funds availability to the recipient: immediate and other
Notes	Alternative payments include bill payment and P2P transactions initiated via a DI website or app. These initiation methods provide a convenient interface for users. The initiated transactions do not represent unique payments as they generally require settlement through other payment types. Bill payment transactions can settle via check or ACH. P2P transactions typically settle via ACH or a general-purpose card network. Beginning with the calendar year 2024 triennial data collection, DFIPS will collect volume and value data for the instant payment platforms (RTP and FedNow). Going forward, some bill payments and P2P transactions will settle via these new payment platforms. Immediate payments were defined in DFIPS as those with funds made available to the recipient in 30 minutes or less. (Settlement speed can be different from funds availability.)
Sources	DFIPS

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