This paper assesses the relative importance of two key drivers of mortgage default: negative equity and illiquidity. To do so, the authors combine loan-level mortgage data with detailed credit bureau information about the borrower's broader balance sheet. This gives them a direct way to measure...

Open-loop prepaid cards are becoming a mainstream payment instrument in the United States. In addition, businesses and governments increasingly view them as a less expensive alternative to checks for disbursing payroll and benefits.There are few studies that examine how consumers actually use...

The authors estimate the cost savings to the U.S. payment system resulting from implementing Check 21. This legislation initially permitted a paper substitute digital image of a check, and later an electronic digital image of a check, to be processed and presented for payment on a same-day...

Consumer confidence in payment card systems has been built up over many decades. Cardholders expect to use their cards to execute payment instructions in a reliable and timely manner. Data breaches that degrade the perceived safety and reliability of payment cards may weaken consumer confidence...

We analyze a large, nationally representative anonymized data set of consumers with a credit report from 2002 to 2010. This is a period that encompasses a boom and bust in consumer credit. Using census data, we classify consumers into four categories of relative neighborhood income and find...

Why should economic scholars study the consumer debt collection process? First, the cost and effectiveness of the collections process has implications for the pricing and availability of consumer credit. Second, changes in technology and the structure of credit markets have transformed the...

For a half century, nonprofit credit counseling organizations have offered financial education and budget counseling sessions at nominal cost to borrowers. They also negotiate comprehensive repayment plans with a borrower's unsecured creditors. These repayment plans provide an alternative to...