Search Results
Discussion Paper
Consumer bankruptcy: how unsecured lenders fare
On September 8, 2003, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop on consumer bankruptcy and its effect on unsecured lenders. Professor Melissa Jacoby of Temple University?s School of Law led the workshop. A leading bankruptcy scholar, Jacoby described the current bankruptcy system and the potential impact of Chapter 7 reforms on the rights of unsecured creditors. This paper summarizes Jacoby?s presentation and the ensuing discussion. It offers a brief overview of consumer bankruptcy and the rights of unsecured creditors that lend money to ...
Discussion Paper
An overview and history of credit reporting
On April 5, 2002, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia held a workshop that explored the uses and evolution of credit reporting companies. Leading the workshop was a group of executives from TransUnion LLC : Tony Capaldi, Group Vice President for the Eastern Region; Dan Brackle, Vice President, Philadelphia; and Chet Wiermanski, Vice President, Analytical Services. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, TransUnion is a leading global provider of information and decision-processing services, maintaining one of the largest databases of consumer credit information in ...
Discussion Paper
Prepaid card markets and regulation
Prepaid cards, also commonly referred to as stored-value cards, are typically credit card-sized pieces of plastic that contain or represent an amount of pre-loaded value. They include a wide range of payment products, such as gift cards, payroll cards, teen cards, and travel cards. Despite significant product innovations, it is unclear whether and how existing federal and state laws that apply to other financial products (e.g., checks, credit cards, deposit accounts) apply to the different varieties of prepaid cards. Overall, the law in this area is very much unsettled. In an effort to ...
Discussion Paper
The laws, regulations, and industry practices that protect consumers who use electronic payment systems: ACH E-checks & prepaid cards
This is the second in a series of three papers that examines the protections available to users of various electronic payment vehicles who fall victim to fraud, discover an error on their statement, or have a dispute with a merchant after making a purchase. Specifically, it examines the federal and state laws that protect consumers in the three situations described above as well as the relevant association, network, and bank policies that may apply. The protection information included in this paper is derived from a wide range of public and non-public sources, including federal and state ...
Discussion Paper
An overview of credit card asset-backed securities
Summary: On Friday, October 25, 2002, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia held a workshop that focused on credit card asset-backed securities. Mark Adelson, head of structured finance research at Nomura Securities International, led the workshop. A veteran analyst of the ABS market, Adelson has written numerous articles and special reports on securitization. During the workshop, Adelson explained the growth, pricing, and mechanics of credit card asset-backed securities. He also discussed some key issues currently facing ABS markets. This paper supplements ...
Discussion Paper
The laws, regulations, and industry practices that protect consumers who use electronic payment systems: credit and debit cards
Summary: This is the first in a series of three papers that examines the protections available to users of various electronic payment vehicles who fall victim to fraud, discover an error on their statement, or have a dispute with a merchant after making a purchase. Specifically, it examines in detail the federal and state laws that protect consumers in the three situations described above as well as the relevant association, network, and bank policies that may apply. The protection information included in this paper is derived from a wide range of public and non-public sources, including ...
Discussion Paper
Measuring credit card industry chargeoffs: a review of sources and methods
The percentage of credit card loans that are charged off by card issuers during a particular month or quarter is an important metric. It provides insights into the financial health of the credit card industry and the U.S. consumer. After offering a brief overview of credit card chargeoff reporting, this paper describes five different chargeoff statistics in detail. Sampling techniques, frequency, availability, and calculation methods for each statistic are discussed and compared. One of the paper?s key findings is that the various on-balance-sheet and off-balance-sheet chargeoff measures, ...
Discussion Paper
Measuring U.S. credit card borrowing: an analysis of the G.19's estimate of consumer revolving credit
This paper describes the Federal Reserve System?s monthly estimate of revolving consumer credit as published in the G.19 statistical release. It analyzes the source data, sampling methods, and calculations on which this estimate currently relies. In addition, it proposes a framework for analyzing the revolving credit statistic and suggests modifications to how the estimate is calculated and presented. The paper concludes that the revolving credit estimate is highly accurate and proposes that the System consider five modifications that would improve its usefulness to researchers.
Discussion Paper
Payment system regulation and how it causes consumer confusion
On October 14, 2004, the Payment Cards Center hosted a workshop led by Professor Mark Budnitz of Georgia State University School of Law. Budnitz, the author of four books and many Law Review articles on consumer payments, described how the current regime of consumer payment regulation and various new payment products have led to much confusion among consumers. He also discussed a remedy for this situation: the adoption of uniform federal consumer protection standards. This paper summarizes the workshop and is organized around two of Budnitz?s key assertions: (1) the current regulatory ...
Discussion Paper
Prepaid cards: how do they function? how are they regulated?
This conference, sponsored by the Payment Cards Center, brought together prepaid card industry leaders and regulators to discuss how various prepaid-card systems work and the ways in which different state and federal laws can affect them. The conference featured sessions on bank- and merchant-issued gift cards, payroll cards, and flexible spending account cards. It also featured presentations by experts on Regulation E, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, state money transmitter laws, and state abandoned property laws.