On July 23, 2008, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop to discuss federal and state legislative responses to data breaches. The workshop addressed several laws and legislative initiatives designed to create greater safeguards for personal...

The National Bank Act (NBA), the 140- year-old statute that led to the creation of nationally chartered banks, has likely been one of the most influential forces in the formation and development of the U.S. credit card industry. The NBA gives nationally chartered banks a wide range of powers and...

Summary: This is the first in a series of three papers that examines the protections available to users of various electronic payment vehicles who fall victim to fraud, discover an error on their statement, or have a dispute with a merchant after making a purchase. Specifically, it examines in...

This paper describes the Federal Reserve System’s monthly estimate of revolving consumer credit as published in the G.19 statistical release. It analyzes the source data, sampling methods, and calculations on which this estimate currently relies. In addition, it proposes a framework for...

On September 25, 2001, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia sponsored a workshop on innovations in small dollar payments. The moderated discussion was led by Richard Corl, an entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in the electronic payments industry.2 From his...

On June 10, 2005, the Payment Cards Center hosted a symposium entitled “Federal Consumer Protection Regulation: Disclosures and Beyond.” The symposium brought together credit card industry leaders, legal scholars, consumer advocates, economists, and federal regulators to discuss standardized...

The causes and ramifications of the rise in the consumer debt burden over time have been subject to much debate. This paper first offers a brief overview and analysis of the key economic variables used to evaluate consumer debt levels. The principal focus of the paper, however, is a broad review...

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,...

Credit Card Pricing Developments and Their Disclosure,” a January 2003 Payment Cards Center Discussion Paper, examined the history and dynamics of credit card pricing and how such pricing is described to consumers in Truth in Lending solicitation disclosures. In this paper, we examine credit...

On January 19, 2007, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia sponsored a workshop led by Marc Abbey, managing partner at First Annapolis Consulting, to discuss the merchant-acquiring side of the payment cards industry. Abbey described the often overlooked acquiring...