Why do consumers use electronic bill payment services? what do the differences between nonusers, low users, and high users imply about the potential future market these services? How might public policy evolve in the future? Analyzing a unique consumer survey conducted by the Federal Reserve's...

This article addresses the following questions about electronic presentment and payment (EBPP) in the business-to-consumer marketplace: Why aren't electronically presented bills always paid electronically? And, if EBPP does aid in the migration to fully electronic end-to-end payment, what are...

To examine the adequacy of existing efforts to prevent, manage, and mitigate data breaches and other fraud in card-based payment systems, the authors conducted 17 interviews of various payment industry participants in 2009. This article documents the insights gained from the interviews, which...

Immediate funds transfer (IFT) is a highly convenient, certain, secure, and economical means of payment using bank money. IFT is not available in the U.S. banking system, except for large-value business payments, interbank transfers, and specialized financial market transactions. This article...

While the U.S. continues to transition away from cash toward electronic payment methods, some population segments continue to rely heavily on cash. In this study of foreign-born Latin Americans in Chicago, the authors find that the dramatic increase in the number of immigrants is supporting a...

In theory, banks that conduct all their business over the Internet will have low overhead expenses. If these saving materialize, Internet banks could use them to fuel fast growth while still earning normal profits. This article analyzes a small sample of "pure lay" Internet banks launched during...

In the first of two articles in this issue, the authors document the increasing importance of noninterest income at U.S. commercial banking companies and address two fundamental misunderstandings regarding this trend: the belief that fee-based activities provide more stable earnings than...

This article explains how large-value payment systems work, using either gross or net settlement. The author discusses risk control in a real-time gross settlement system and analyzes the pricing of credit to provide intraday liquidity. She argues for distinguishing between...

The costs and benefits to payment system participants can differ depending on which payment mechanism is used. The authors specifically explore the costs and benefits of prepaid card applications versus other payment instruments, such as cash, checks, and debit cards, for certain payment...