A 2005 survey resulted in 66 percent of businesses saying that more than half of their payments were by check. In 2006 the percentage is only 40 percent. Over half of all businesses are now using corporate payment cards. 44 percent of businesses now accept payment cards from other businesses. I see businesses using direct deposit to pay other businesses, too. See PaymentsNews’ posting B2B Payment Trends for more information.
Update. Tower Group survey found “Online bill payment increased at a compound annual growth rate of 29.6 percent from 2005 to 2007, and TowerGroup believes it will continue to grow through 2012 – albeit at the lower compound rate of 18.7 percent. Businesses are increasingly use a combination of debit and Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic payments for smaller-dollar items. B2B checks are still be used for larger purchases. See RemoteDataCapture.com’s posting TowerGroup Expects US Check Volumes Will Decline to 17.9 Billion Transactions by 2009, but Will Remain Major Payment Type Due to Business Use.