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Discussion Paper
Mandatory arbitration clauses in the credit card industry
On September 26, 2002, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia held a workshop that explored the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in credit card agreements between issuers and consumers. Leading the workshop was Alan S. Kaplinsky, chair of the Consumer Financial Services Group at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. A pioneer in the development of consumer arbitration clauses, Kaplinsky described the arbitration process as a conflict resolution mechanism in the payment cards industry. He also provided a contextual overview of the Federal Arbitration Act of ...
Discussion Paper
Consumer credit counseling: credit card issuers' perspectives
On Friday, May 23, 2003, the Payment Cards Center hosted a workshop led by collections managers from J.P. Morgan Chase and Juniper Bank. The managers provided the credit card issuers' perspective on the consumer credit counseling industry. The day's discussion complemented an earlier workshop at which representatives from local consumer credit counseling services (CCCS) discussed their business model. After describing the ways in which new market entrants have affected the counseling industry, the issuers discussed the challenges associated with administering and appropriately valuing the ...
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
Credit card pricing developments and their disclosure
Public data, proprietary issuer data, and data collected by the author from a review of over 150 lender-borrower contracts from 15 of the largest issuers in the U.S. suggest that, over the past 10 years, credit card issuers have drastically changed the way that they price their product. This paper outlines the history and dynamics of credit card pricing over the past 10 years and examines how new pricing methods are addressed by current regulatory disclosure requirements.
Discussion Paper
The laws, regulations, and industry practices that protect consumers who use electronic payment systems: policy considerations
This is the third in a series of three papers that examines the laws, regulations, and voluntary industry practices that may aid consumers who contest an electronic transaction because of error, fraud, or merchant dispute. The first two papers describe the complex web of protections available to users of four popular electronic payment mechanisms: credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, and ACH e-checks. This third paper considers how protections related to fraud, error, and disputes affect market participants. The paper concludes that (i) the current protection mechanisms make it more ...
Discussion Paper
Another look at credit card pricing and its disclosure: Is the semi-annual pricing data reported by credit card issuers to the Fed helpful to consumers or researchers?
Credit Card Pricing Developments and Their Disclosure,? a January 2003 Payment Cards Center Discussion Paper, examined the history and dynamics of credit card pricing and how such pricing is described to consumers in Truth in Lending solicitation disclosures. In this paper, we examine credit card pricing as revealed to consumers in a different context: that of a semiannual shopping guide that the Board of Governors publishes pursuant to the Truth in Lending Act. Specifically, we ask two questions: Are the data on credit card pricing in the guide useful to consumers? Are the data collected for ...
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
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
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.