Search Results
Journal Article
Technology Diffusion: The Case of Internet Banking
Taking internet banking as an example, we study diffusion of cost-saving technological innovations. We show that the diffusion of internet banking follows an S-shaped logistic curve as it penetrates a log-logistic bank-size distribution. We test the theoretical hypothesis with an empirical study of internet banking diffusion among banks across fifty U.S. states. Using an instrument-variable approach, we estimate the positive effect of average bank size on internet banking diffusion. The empirical findings allow us to examine the technological, economic, and institutional factors governing the ...
Journal Article
What makes a bank efficient? : a look at financial characteristics and management and ownership structure
Increased competition, new technology, and bank consolidation are reinforcing the need for banks to operate efficiently. Moreover, recent research on banking efficiency shows that there is much room for reducing expenses and making better use of bank resources. This article compares the financial characteristics, as well as the management and ownership structure, of a sample of efficient and inefficient banks from the Tenth Federal Reserve District. The comparison reveals a number of factors that contribute to bank efficiency. ; Efficient banks control all aspects of costs, yet deliver bank ...
Journal Article
The changing nature of U.S. card payment fraud: industry and public policy options
As credit and debit card payments have become the primary payment instrument in retail transactions, awareness of identity theft and concerns over the safety of payments has increased. Traditional forms of card payment fraud are still an important threat, but fraud resulting from unauthorized access to payment data appears to be rising, and we are only beginning to get a sense of the dimensions of the problem. ; Thus far, the role of public policy has been to encourage the card payment industry to limit fraud by developing its own standards and procedures. Whether this policy stance is ...
Briefing
The Benefits of Collecting and Reporting Payment Fraud Statistics for the United States
This article argues that publication of fraud statistics helps the payment industry to coordinate security efforts, provides useful information for policymakers, and helps to promote consumer confidence in payments. However, while other countries regularly publish such statistics, it is an open question whether they will become available in the United States.
Monograph
A guide to the ATM and debit card industry - 2006 update
It has been three years since we published A Guide to the ATM and Debit Card Industry. Those three years represent a very dynamic time in the industry with a number of important developments. Some trends and patterns have persisted or accelerated, while others have peaked or reversed. Still others have emerged for the first time. The purpose of this 2006 Update is to document these trends and patterns by updating the data we presented in the original book and to discuss their implications for the current and future state of the industry. ; The most important development is that the two ...
Journal Article
Data Breach Notification Laws
Richard J. Sullivan and Jesse Leigh Maniff study individual provisions within states' data breach notification laws to evaluate their effects on identity theft.
Journal Article
Understanding risk management in emerging retail payments
New technologies used in payment methods can reduce risk, but they can also lead to new risks. Emerging retail payments are prone to operational and fraud risks, especially security breaches and potential use in illicit transactions. This article describes an economic framework for understanding risk control in retail payments. Risk control is a special type of good because it can protect one payment participant without diminishing the protection of other participants. As a result, the authors' economic framework emphasizes risk containment, primarily through the establishment and enforcement ...
Journal Article
The 2001 survey of commercial banks in the Tenth Federal Reserve District : changes and challenges
Periodically, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City surveys District bankers for their views on a variety of matters. In February 2001, we solicited banker opinion on a number of topics pertaining to deposit and loan competition, management and staffing challenges, Internet banking activities, funding options, operational issues, the effects of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and near-term prospects. ; This essay briefly discusses the Tenth Districts geography, economics, and demographics and thereby provides context for the survey responses we received. It introduces subsequent articles that ...
Journal Article
Successful strategies in interstate bank acquisitions
Much of the recent consolidation in the banking industry has been across state lines, and this trend will accelerate due to recent federal legislation. As interstate banking expands further, the performance and success of banks that are acquired will be the key factor determining how much consolidation will occur and which organizations will be major participants. This article therefore examines a group of banks that were acquired on an interstate basis in 1986 and 1987, and tracks their performance after acquisition. It identifies strategies and characteristics that distinguish acquisitions ...