Checks continue to dominate the market for noncash retail payments in the United States. Each year, U.S. residents write between 65 billion and 70 billion checks, an average of one check per business day per resident. This dependence on checks is unique among developed countries. It is also...

Currency fraud (counterfeiting), check fraud, and credit card fraud are serious problems, costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars each year. But with each of these traditional payments methods, the problem of fraud has been kept at a manageable level. To be successful in the marketplace,...

Rapid developments in technology have brought about new methods of retail payment-such as remote banking, electronic cash, and debit, stored-value, and smart cards-that were unavailable a decade ago. Some observers believe that these alternative payment methods will differ from traditional...

The Bank of Amsterdam, founded in 1609, was the first public bank to offer accounts not directly convertible to coin. As such, it can be described as the first true central bank. The debut of central bank money did not result from any conscious policy decision, however, but instead arose almost...