CrossCheck Blog

As more businesses adopt digital payment options, many merchants are asking the same question: do checks still make sense, or should everything move to ACH? The reality is that both payment methods continue to play an important role. While ACH and other bank-based payments offer speed and convenience, checks remain widely used across industries where transaction sizes are larger or where customers prefer traditional payment methods. Instead of replacing one with the other, many businesses are finding that a balanced approach works best.

If you’ve paid a bill online recently, you may have noticed a subtle shift.

Debit cards have long been positioned as a low-cost, reliable way for merchants to accept payments. But recent data shows the risk equation has shifted. Today, merchants are absorbing a growing share of debit card fraud losses, even as fee structures and network rules remain largely unchanged. Recent analysis highlighted by PaymentsJournal, drawing on biennial data from the Federal Reserve, shows that merchants were responsible for nearly half of all debit card fraud costs in 2023. That marks a steady transfer of risk away from banks and toward the businesses accepting the payment, both in-store and online.

Across the country, payment rules are shifting and the cost of accepting credit cards is under more scrutiny than ever. One of the latest developments comes from Oklahoma, where a new law taking effect November 1, 2025 will formally allow merchants to impose surcharges on credit card transactions.