This article explores costs and benefits of two types of debit card authorization methods—signature and PIN (personal identification number)—for merchants, consumers, and financial institutions. It also considers competition between signature- and PIN-based debit cards in the United States...

On August 3, 2006, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop led by Ronald Congemi, senior vice president of strategic industry relations for First Data Corporation, to examine developments on both the supply side and demand side that are influencing...

The Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) Data Module provides an assessment of Bolivia’s macroeconomic statistics against the recommendations of the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). The report reveals that the quality of Bolivia’s macroeconomic statistics...

The Center co-sponsored this conference with the Community Affairs Department and the Electronic Funds Transfer Association’s EBT Industry Council. The purpose of the conference was to provide a forum for community, banking, and payment industry leaders on the future of EBT. The sessions...

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the prevention of complacency regarding payment card fraud, particularly the debit card. Design/methodology/approach – Based on research already carried out on payment card fraud in France, Spain and the UK, the paper extends the analysis of fraud to the...

This paper empirically examines the benefits of relationship banking to banks, in the context of consumer credit markets. Using a unique panel dataset that contains comprehensive information about the relationships between a large bank and its credit card customers, we estimate the effects of...

We use a new panel dataset of credit card accounts to analyze how consumers responded to the 2001 federal income tax rebates. We estimate the monthly response of credit card payments, spending, and debt, exploiting the unique, randomized timing of the rebate disbursement. We find that on average...

Every year over 20 states offer sales tax holidays (STHs) on specific items like clothes, shoes and other items to encourage consumption, effecting over 100 million consumers. We use a unique dataset of credit cards transaction to study the spending response to these holidays. Using a...

Using a unique administrative level dataset from a large and diverse U.S. financial institution, we test the impact of rewards on credit card spending and debt. Specifically, we study the impact of cash-back rewards on individuals before and during their enrollment in the program. We find that...