With the advent of the internet and online payment system, maybe you’re wondering if most people have permanently said goodbye to the paper money and checks. Well, not quite. But there’s a positive development.

In the United States, it has been noted that the number of people turning to the internet in making their financial transactions like paying bills and other items is on the upswing. A 2006 survey of 1,200 online consumers conducted by CheckFree and Lieberman Research Worldwide found that people using the online payment system or the so-called maximizers has grown by 85 percent since 2004. This group composed of 57 percent male is seen to readily adopt an electronic billing and payment program. Maximizers are also expected to be the first to adopt the paperless bills.

On the other hand, the survey also showed that the number of consumers who prefer to use cash and checks has declined. These people belong to the group called the paranoid paper pushers who still don’t feel safe using the internet in paying bills. The number of paper pushers went down from 22 percent in 2004 to only nine percent in 2006.

So what are the reasons behind this shift to online transactions? The research cited a growth in the use of broadband internet connectivity which promotes faster online financial activities as well as in the number of people spending more time on the internet. A large chunk or 88 percent of the online population claims to spend more than five hours each week on the internet. A CheckFree executive stressed that more time online means more experience and thereby more confidence on internet security.