In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Americans have made significant alterations in their lives, from spending more time with family to traveling less.

So perhaps it's not surprising that some have changed their payment habits as well. A nationwide study conducted by Boston-based Dove Consulting in late October found that 24 percent of consumers were keeping cash more readily available than they did before the attacks.

Twenty-one percent predicted they would use cash more in the next six months to pay for purchases. Only nine percent said they would use cash less.

"Cash is accepted everywhere, and it doesn't require any complex security measures to use cash," said Dove analyst Sarah Reinstein. "For many people, turning to cash is a natural reflex in times of uncertainty."

Yet even though there is an increased demand for cash, more than 22 percent of respondents said they were using ATMs less frequently since Sept. 11. "Consumers appear to be visiting machines less often, but withdrawing larger amounts of cash when they do use ATMs," Reinstein said.

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Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they planned to decrease their credit card use in the next six months, a finding that was supported by a Consumer Payments Preference Study conducted with the American Bankers Association (ABA) over the summer. In that study, 23 percent said they expected to use credit cards less.

"In the short term, credit cards are taking the biggest hit," Reinstein said. "People are cautious about overspending right now and want to limit their use of credit."

She noted that most consumers mention vacations and other big-ticket items, often paid for with credit cards, as the types of purchases they are most likely to eliminate.

Fifty-five percent of the respondents in the October study attributed changes in their payment habits to the Sept. 11 attacks, while 33 percent mentioned changes in employment and 26 percent mentioned stock market changes.

Consumers' increased attachment to cash is "a short-term desire that's not going to have an impact in the long term," Reinstein said.

Dove expects consumers to shift their allegiance back to electronic payments, a trend documented in the earlier Dove/ABA study, which found that 21-24 percent of respondents planned to increase their use of debit cards in the next two years while only 6 percent expected to decrease usage of debit.

In contrast, 18 percent expected to decrease their use of cash and just 12 percent expected to use cash more. Among the people who currently use cash most often, more than 30 percent said they will increase use of debit by 2003.

Checks and credit cards also didn't fare well in the Dove/ABA study. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they intend to reduce use of checks, while only 10 percent expected to use checks more. Twenty-three percent planned to use credit cards less, and 17 percent expected to use them more.

"Consumers are clearly shifting from paper-based payments to electronic payments, although it's not occurring as quickly as predicted," Reinstein said.

The reason why consumers continue to make payments via multiple channels is simple, she said. "People really value choice."

Consumers' top criteria for evaluating payment methods remained constant in the two studies. In both studies, as well as in an earlier 1999 Dove study of payment methods, the top three criteria were speed, ease of use and convenience.

"Over and over again, these are the most important factors," Reinstein said.