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Working Paper
Two-sided Market, R&D and Payments System Evolution
It takes many years for more efficient electronic payments to be widely used, and the fees that merchants (consumers) pay for using those services are increasing (decreasing) over time. We address these puzzles by studying payments system evolution with a dynamic model in a two-sided market setting. We calibrate the model to the U.S. payment card data, and conduct welfare and policy analysis. Our analysis shows that the market power of electronic payment networks plays important roles in explaining the slow adoption and asymmetric price changes, and the welfare impact of regulations may vary ...
Briefing
What Consumer Surveys Say about the Design of a U.S. CBDC for Retail Payments
Although researchers continue to discuss the possibility of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for retail payments in the United States, the success of a CBDC will depend on consumer adoption. To understand how a CBDC could provide a good user experience, recent surveys in the United States and in other countries have asked consumers about their wants and needs for a potential CBDC. In the United States, a majority of respondents to these surveys seek dependability, convenience, and security.
Newsletter
Understanding the Demand for Currency at Home and Abroad
Currency is traditionally the largest liability of a central bank and today accounts for 36% of the Federal Reserve?s liabilities, or $1.59 trillion.1 The Fed supplies currency to meet demand, so changes in the demand for currency will be an important determinant of how the Fed?s balance sheet evolves in the future. In this Chicago Fed Letter, we examine currency demand around the world and over time to learn about the range of possibilities for how U.S. currency demand might change. We then project currency demand over the next decade in several illustrative scenarios.
Speech
The Global Interdependence Center’s Payment Systems in the Internet Age Conference
Some form of regulation is in the interest of the evolving fintech industry, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick T. Harker said in remarks at the Global Interdependence Center?s Payment Systems in the Internet Age conference
Speech
Modernizing Our Payments System; Fourth Annual Financial Literacy Day: Understanding Global Markets and Finance
The Federal Reserve System plays an important role in helping to ensure that our payments system is efficient, secure, and effective. I recently became chair of the Financial Services Policy Committee (FSPC), which oversees the provision of payment services to depository institutions and the U.S. Treasury by the 12 Federal Reserve Banks. So as a follow-up to the discussion we just heard about new forms of payments, I thought it would be useful to provide you with an update on some of the Fed’s ongoing work to modernize the U.S. payments system, and then offer a policy maker’s perspectives ...
Journal Article
Clarifying Liability for Twenty-First-Century Payment Fraud
This article examines the governance structure of retail payments in the United States, provides an overview of payment fraud, and discusses in depth the liability frameworks for fraud involving specific payment methods. It also presents a series of recommendations that describe how the public sector might work together with the private sector to reduce fraud risks by clarifying liability for fraud.
Newsletter
The Structure of Federal Reserve Liabilities
Throughout the financial crisis and its aftermath from late 2008 through October 2014, the Federal Reserve used asset purchases as a potent tool of monetary policy?buying longer-term Treasury and mortgage-backed securities to provide economic stimulus beyond what traditional policy approaches could produce. Consequently, the size and composition of the Fed?s balance sheet changed significantly over this period.
Decentralized finance proposed as alternative to traditional financial services
DeFi applications allow users to directly interact with each other to borrow, lend, insure and exchange digital assets without centralized intermediaries, such as banks and custodial exchanges.
Newsletter
Payment Systems Evolution: How Does Money Move from a Buyer to Seller?
With the click of a button or swipe of a card, money can flow into and out of bank accounts without hesitation. This Page One Economics article examines what it takes for that money to move quickly and reliably to and from accounts, and how a new service developed by the Federal Reserve can contribute to US payment systems.
Journal Article
Blockchain and Financial Market Innovation
Blockchain technology is likely to be a key source of future financial market innovation. It allows for the creation of immutable records of transactions accessible by all participants in a network. A blockchain database is made up of a number of blocks ?chained? together through a reference in each block to the previous block. Each block records one or more transactions, which are essentially changes in the listed owner of assets. New blocks are added to the existing chain through a consensus mechanism in which members of the blockchain network confirm transactions as valid. The technology ...