The value chain for network-branded prepaid cards involves more parties than those commonly present in credit- or debit-card issuing arrangements: the merchant acquirer, processors, a payment network, and a card-issuing bank. These additional participants may include a program manager, a...

The U.S. General Services Administration’s SmartPay program is the world’s largest commercial card portfolio. Nearly every state uses payment cards to electronically distribute unemployment insurance, child support, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or other funds. Federal, state, and...

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...

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...

The U.S. General Services Administration’s SmartPay program is the world’s largest commercial card portfolio. Nearly every state uses payment cards to electronically distribute unemployment insurance, child support, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or other funds. Federal, state, and...

Pricing should speed up the substitution of low cost electronic payments for expensive paper-based transactions and cash. But by how much? Norway has explicitly priced individual payment transactions and rapidly shifted to electronic payments while the Netherlands has experienced the same shift...

Electronic payments are considerably cheaper than their paper-based alternatives. Similarly, ATMs are a more cost-efficient way to deliver certain depositor services than are branch offices. As the share of electronic payments in 12 European countries rose from 0.43 in 1987 to 0.79 in 1999 and...

On June 15, 2001, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia sponsored a workshop on the evolution of the electronic funds transfer (EFT) industry. Paul Tomasofsky and Bruce Sussman of NYCE, the New Jersey-based electronic payments company, led the workshop. Beginning...