Search Results
Working Paper
Fedwire Funds Service: Payments, Balances, and Available Liquidity
We analyze the universe of payments settled through the Fedwire Funds Service--the primary U.S. real-time gross settlement service operated by the Federal Reserve--for the period January 2004 to December 2020. We report on trends in payments volume, payments value, balances, and overdrafts, in addition to documenting changes in the behavior of financial institutions transacting via the Fedwire Funds Service.
Working Paper
Cyberattacks and Financial Stability: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
This paper studies the effects of a unique multi-day cyberattack on a technology service provider (TSP). Using several confidential daily datasets, we identify and quantify first- and second-round effects of the event. For banks using relevant services of the TSP, the attack impaired their ability to send payments over Fedwire, even though the Federal Reserve extended the time they had to submit payments. This impairment (first-round effect) caused other banks to receive fewer payments (second-round effect), leaving them at risk of having too few reserves to send their own payments (a ...
Newsletter
What Are the Consequences of Missed Payments on Consumer Debts?
In order to understand better how the unfolding economic crisis is likely to affect U.S. households, this Chicago Fed Letter looks at what happens when borrowers miss debt payments and how long it takes for them to face a severe adverse consequence, such as foreclosure, wage garnishment, or repossession.
Journal Article
Access to Electronic Payments Systems by Unbanked Consumers
Fumiko Hayashi identifies electronic payment products that can mitigate unbanked consumers? problems with the banking system.
Journal Article
Payment Card Fraud Rates in the United States Relative to Other Countries since Migrating to Chip Cards
The United States has lagged somewhat behind other countries in implementing steps to mitigate payment card fraud, such as chip card technology and personal identification numbers. Small delays in implementing fraud mitigation strategies could translate to large fraud losses relative to other countries. Although comparing fraud rates across countries can be challenging, Fumiko Hayashi examines payment card fraud rates in the United States along with three countries with the best available data?Australia, France, and the United Kingdom?and finds that the United States has the highest overall ...
Journal Article
Mobile Banking Use and Consumer Readiness to Benefit from Faster Payments
The U.S. payments industry is currently implementing faster payments that will enable consumers and businesses to send and receive payments almost instantly at any time of day, any day of the year. Mobile banking in particular may allow consumers to realize the full benefits of faster payments. As a result, a consumer’s use of mobile banking is a good indicator of their readiness to benefit from faster payments.Fumiko Hayashi and Ying Lei Toh examine which consumer characteristics are associated with mobile banking use as well as what other factors may influence consumer readiness. They ...
Journal Article
Cash or Debit Cards? Payment Acceptance Costs for Merchants
Fumiko Hayashi examines which of two payment methods—cash or debit cards—is more costly for merchants to accept in person in six countries: the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. She finds that debit cards have been more costly for merchants to accept than cash in the United States in recent years, while cash has become more costly to accept than debit cards in the other five countries. Two factors explain this difference. First, although interchange fees are just one component of merchants’ debit card acceptance costs, the fees alone are higher than ...
Journal Article
Prepaid Cards: An Inadequate Solution for Digital Payments Inclusion
Although prepaid cards have the potential to address digital payments exclusion, their use among unbanked households remains low.
Briefing
Still on Trial? The Court’s Use of Economic Analysis in the American Express Case
In a 2018 antitrust case, the Supreme Court ruled that American Express did not break federal laws in prohibiting merchants from steering consumers to alternative payment methods. However, some antitrust scholars disagree with how the court defined the relevant market and determined anticompetitive effects, and are concerned that the decision will make it more difficult to bring antitrust cases against payment platforms in the future.
Briefing
Payments System Research: Our 2020 Vision
In this year’s first Payments System Research Briefing, senior vice president Susan Zubradt reflects on the evolution of retail payments and what lies ahead for the KC Fed’s Payments System Research group.