Search Results
Discussion Paper
The role of electronic payments in disaster recovery: providing more than convenience
On May 3-4, 2006, the Payment Cards Center hosted a two-day conference titled ?The Role of Electronic Payments in Disaster Recovery: Providing More Than Convenience.? The event brought together participants from a range of groups, including financial institutions and other financial service providers; federal and state government and national relief agencies; and the bank regulatory community. Participants examined the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and considered how these experiences may be useful in identifying opportunities to further strengthen the financial system?s response to ...
Working Paper
IDENTITY THEFT AS A TEACHABLE MOMENT
SUPERCEDES 14-28. This paper examines how a negative shock to the security of personal finances due to severe identity theft changes consumer credit behavior. Using a unique data set of linked consumer credit data and alerts indicating identity theft, we show that the immediate effects of fraud on consumers are typically negative, small, and transitory. After those immediate effects fade, identity theft victims experience persistent, positive changes in credit characteristics, including improved risk scores (indicating lower default risk). We argue that these changes are consistent with ...
Discussion Paper
Identity theft: where do we go from here?
The identity theft forum sponsored by the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Gartner Fellows Program brought together a broad range of stakeholders to discuss the important issue of identity theft. Participants from the financial services and merchant industries, Internet service and technology providers, and regulatory and law enforcement agencies examined issues faced by consumers, merchants, and banks in fighting this financial crime. Discussants shared methodologies used to combat this crime and explored opportunities for coordination in searching for ...
Discussion Paper
Payments, credit, and savings: the experience for LMI households
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 Households,? held May 21-22, 2007, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. This year?s DAS survey was designed to gain a better understanding of 1) how and why LMI households use a wide array of financial services as well as the costs and benefits of such services and 2) how LMI households would respond to ...
Discussion Paper
Identity theft: do definitions still matter?
Despite a statutory definition of identity theft, there is a continuing debate on whether differences among the financial frauds associated with identity theft warrant further distinction and treatment, not only by lenders and financial institutions but also by consumers and regulatory and law enforcement agencies. In this Discussion Paper, Julia S. Cheney examines four types of financial fraud ? fictitious identity fraud, payment card fraud, account takeover fraud, and true name fraud ? that fall under the legal term identity theft to better understand how criminal behavior patterns, risks ...
Discussion Paper
Supply- and demand-side developments influencing growth in the debit market
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 growth in the debit card market. On the supply side, Congemi addressed banks? increasing recognition of the importance of payments-related revenues in their institutional profit and loss statements, the effect of differences in interchange fees between PIN and signature debit, and the greater focus on ...
Discussion Paper
Prepaid cards: an important innovation in financial services
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 cards offer for consumers, providers, and issuing banks contribute to the increased adoption of these payment applications. Using these cards, consumers can pay bills, make purchases, and get cash from ATM networks. At the same time, consumers who hold prepaid cards need not secure a traditional banking ...
Working Paper
Financial Consequences of Identity Theft: Evidence from Consumer Credit Bureau Records
This paper examines how a negative shock to the security of personal finances due to severe identity theft changes consumer credit behavior. Using a unique data set of consumer credit records and alerts indicating identity theft and the exogenous timing of victimization, we show that the immediate effects of fraud on credit files are typically negative, small, and transitory. After those immediate effects fade, identity theft victims experience persistent, positive changes in credit characteristics, including improved Risk Scores. Consumers also exhibit caution with credit by having fewer ...
Journal Article
The efficiency and integrity of payment card systems: industry views on the risks posed by data breaches
To examine the adequacy of existing efforts to prevent, manage, and mitigate data breaches and other fraud in card-based payment systems, the authors conducted 17 interviews of various payment industry participants in 2009. This article documents the insights gained from the interviews, which consider the need for greater cooperation, sharing of relevant information, and innovation to stay ahead of the criminals that perpetrate payment card fraud with increasingly sophisticated methods.
Discussion Paper
An Update on Trends in the Debit Card Market
On March 20, 2007, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop led by Stan Paur, chairman of PULSE EFT Association LP, a Discover Financial Services LLC company, and Tony Hayes, vice president of Dove Consulting, a division of Hitachi Consulting. Paur and Hayes shared findings from PULSE?s 2007 Debit Issuer Study, conducted by Dove Consulting with 55 debit card issuers of varying sizes. In examining developments in the debit card market, Hayes and Paur shared survey results and provided additional insights into four key areas: performance metrics, ...