This paper describes the U.S. financial system’s response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina and examines how financial safety nets helped meet consumers’ needs in the aftermath of the storm. Overall, we find that consumers who hold deposit accounts at financial institutions are...

On June 20 and 21, 2005, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, in conjunction with the Electronic Funds Transfer Association (EFTA), hosted a day-and-a-half forum, “Risky Business: Managing Electronic Payments in the 21st Century.” The Center and EFTA invited...

The percentage of credit card loans that are charged off by card issuers during a particular month or quarter is an important metric. It provides insights into the financial health of the credit card industry and the U.S. consumer. After offering a brief overview of credit card chargeoff...

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...

This paper describes the characteristics of closed-system and open-system prepaid cards. Of particular interest is a class of open-system programs that offer a set of features similar to conventional deposit accounts using card-based payment applications. The benefits that open-system prepaid...

The Payment Cards Center and the Community Affairs Department invited Michael Barr, University of Michigan Law School and faculty investigator for the 2005-2006 Detroit Area Study (DAS), to collaborate in organizing a conference, “Payments, Credit, and Savings: The Experience for LMI...

Banks and credit card companies lobbied Congress for several years to amend the Bankruptcy Code because of an increasing number of bankruptcy filings1 and evidence that debtors were abusing the existing code. On April 20, 2005, President Bush signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer...

On April 23 and 24, 2008, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Electronic Funds Transfer Association jointly hosted "Maintaining a Safe Environment for Payment Cards: Examining Evolving Threats Posed by Fraud." The conference included panels representing...

While consumers' use of payment cards has grown rapidly in many other areas, their use in making health-care payments has been far more limited. This paper attempts to explain several reasons for the slow adoption rates and identifies four related trends and developments that can be expected to...

On September 8, 2003, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop on consumer bankruptcy and its effect on unsecured lenders. Professor Melissa Jacoby of Temple University’s School of Law led the workshop. A leading bankruptcy scholar, Jacoby...