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Working Paper
The supervisory framework surrounding nonbank participation in the U.S. retail payments system : an overview
Nonbank providers of payment services are important in the United States and appear to have become more prominent in recent years. This development, by itself, poses unique risks to the payments system. Associated with this change is a significant transformation in the mix of payment types away from checks and towards electronic payments, which introduces new risks to the payments system and potentially compounds the risks posed by increased reliance on nonbank providers of payment services. This paper reviews these recent developments in the retail payments system, discusses the associated ...
Journal Article
How does ownership structure and manager wealth influence risk? : a look at ownership structure, manager wealth, and risk in commercial banks
Bank managers, stockholders, and directors must work closely together in deciding what risks their bank will assume and how to control the bank's overall risk exposure. Each decision-maker will have to understand the risk preferences of others in order to make mutually acceptable decisions and develop policies that reflect all of their concerns. To the extent that weak risk control is tied to management and ownership structure, bank examiners must also understand the basic components of a sound management and ownership structure if the examiner is to suggest corrective steps for a problem ...
Journal Article
Interchange fees in credit and debit card markets : what role for public authorities
Credit and especially debit card transactions are on the rise worldwide. Interchange fees are an integral part of the pricing structure of credit and debit card transactions. Indirectly paid by merchants to card issuers, interchange fees in most countries are set by credit and debit card networks. But in one country, Australia, the central bank is regulating interchange fees, and in several other countries and areas, including the European Union, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom, public officials are taking, or considering taking, a more hands-on regulatory stance. In ...
Journal Article
Risk management and nonbank participation in the U.S. retail payments system
The retail payments system in the United States has changed significantly in recent years. Advances in technology have caused a greater reliance on electronic payment networks. And the industrial structure of the payment services industry has evolved, as more and more nonbanks deliver payment products to end users and supply back-end processing. In general, these changes have made the payments system more efficient and given more choices to consumers and more payment options to merchants and businesses. ; At the same time, however, the rapid pace of change has introduced new risks to the ...
Journal Article
Data Breach Notification Laws
Richard J. Sullivan and Jesse Leigh Maniff study individual provisions within states' data breach notification laws to evaluate their effects on identity theft.
Journal Article
Understanding risk management in emerging retail payments
New technologies used in payment methods can reduce risk, but they can also lead to new risks. Emerging retail payments are prone to operational and fraud risks, especially security breaches and potential use in illicit transactions. This article describes an economic framework for understanding risk control in retail payments. Risk control is a special type of good because it can protect one payment participant without diminishing the protection of other participants. As a result, the authors' economic framework emphasizes risk containment, primarily through the establishment and enforcement ...
Journal Article
Successful strategies in interstate bank acquisitions
Much of the recent consolidation in the banking industry has been across state lines, and this trend will accelerate due to recent federal legislation. As interstate banking expands further, the performance and success of banks that are acquired will be the key factor determining how much consolidation will occur and which organizations will be major participants. This article therefore examines a group of banks that were acquired on an interstate basis in 1986 and 1987, and tracks their performance after acquisition. It identifies strategies and characteristics that distinguish acquisitions ...
Journal Article
What makes a bank efficient? : a look at financial characteristics and management and ownership structure
Increased competition, new technology, and bank consolidation are reinforcing the need for banks to operate efficiently. Moreover, recent research on banking efficiency shows that there is much room for reducing expenses and making better use of bank resources. This article compares the financial characteristics, as well as the management and ownership structure, of a sample of efficient and inefficient banks from the Tenth Federal Reserve District. The comparison reveals a number of factors that contribute to bank efficiency. ; Efficient banks control all aspects of costs, yet deliver bank ...
Briefing
The Benefits of Collecting and Reporting Payment Fraud Statistics for the United States
This article argues that publication of fraud statistics helps the payment industry to coordinate security efforts, provides useful information for policymakers, and helps to promote consumer confidence in payments. However, while other countries regularly publish such statistics, it is an open question whether they will become available in the United States.