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Discussion Paper
The cost effectiveness of stored-value products for unbanked customers
On March 30, 2005, the Payment Cards Center hosted a workshop led by Sherrie L.W. Rhine and Sabrina Su of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York?s Office of Regional and Community Affairs to discuss the relevance of stored-value cards to ?unbanked? or underserved consumers. The authors framed the issue by first examining the characteristics of the unbanked before describing the particular card products that may be the most relevant for providing financial services to such consumers. While limitations remain, including an unsettled legal and regulatory landscape and the challenges associated ...
Discussion Paper
General-use prepaid cards: the path to gaining mainstream acceptance
Following the rapid proliferation of merchant-issued prepaid gift cards, some people assumed that the added functionality available in network-branded prepaid cards would lead to similar early success for these payment vehicles. While a number of emerging applications are gaining traction, others are struggling to reach viable scale. This paper argues that the rich functionality creates a significant ?cost hurdle? that must be overcome with economically viable solutions. The paper identifies two emerging strategies that hold particular promise: 1) developing applications that efficiently ...
Discussion Paper
Micropayments: the final frontier for electronic consumer payments
Small payments of less than $5 have resisted the wave of electronification that has swept consumer payments in recent years. However, a number of innovations ? both new technologies and new ways of doing business ? have done much to make such electronic ?micropayments? less expensive and more convenient. Now, having proven themselves in several online markets, micropayments are poised to make inroads at the physical point of sale. This paper looks at some of the success stories (and failures), both in the U.S. and abroad, to identify possible conditions for success and to gauge the outlook ...
Discussion Paper
Will online bill payment spell the demise of paper checks?
Over the past several years, the emergence and adoption of electronic payment instruments have acutely affected check usage. This transition has been especially evident at the point of sale as debit and credit cards have become pervasive. Today, the rapid growth of online bill payment looks to threaten checks? last redoubt. However, bill payment technology is still in its adolescence; the interplay of many stakeholders in the industry, including technology firms, banks, billers, payment cards, and customers, has led to rapid, unscripted innovation in just a few years. This paper quantifies ...
Discussion Paper
Information security, data breaches, and protecting cardholder information: facing up to the challenges
On September 13 and 14, 2006, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Electronic Funds Transfer Association (EFTA) hosted a conference entitled ?Information Security, Data Breaches, and Protecting Cardholder Information: Facing Up to the Challenges.? The two-day event was designed to bring together a diverse set of stakeholders from the U.S. payments industry to discuss a framework to guide industry practices and inform public policy. This paper summarizes key highlights from this event. Conference participants emphasized that the industry must address two ...