The Campus Credit Card Trap: A Survey of College Students and Credit Card Marketing

Based on in-person surveys at forty colleges and universities, analyzes how students pay for their education, how many use credit cards and in what way, and what their attitudes are toward on-campus credit card marketing and toward efforts to limit it

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 for consumers and lenders, and mitigation strategies vary depending upon the sort of data stolen, the type of account compromised, and the opportunity for financial gain. Three areas key to developing effective solutions that, in the view of the author, would benefit from further definitional delineations are identified: measuring the success (or failure) of efforts to fight this crime, educating consumers about the risks and responses to this crime, and coordinating mitigation strategies across stakeholders and geographies.Identity theft ; Fraud ; Credit cards

The Impact of Monetary Union and the Euro on European Capital Markets: What May Be Achieved in Capital Market Integration

Up to now, the Euro has been successful in replacing the traditional European currencies and in altering the landscape of European Capital Markets. Domestic users of the Euro are almost the same in number as the population of the United STates, although the Gross Domestic Products of the two economies are clearly not comparable. Still, if the Member States within the Euro-area truly want to be recognized as an integrated capital market, some work must be done. This Article will estimate, from current economic thought, what remains to be done and what can be achieved in the short term. Some historical analysis will help in identifying the players and the main trends at work. Moreover, some of the international issues that have been raised by the new role of the European Monetary Union (“EMU”) will be presented

Hidden Risks: The Case for Safe and Transparent Checking Accounts

Examines bank practices that put consumers at risk, including lack of information on fees, disproportionate overdraft penalties, and mandatory arbitration or fee-sharing provisions in a legal dispute. Includes a model disclosure box and recommendations

The Federal Reserve seeks to protect consumers

The Federal Reserve plays a key role in protecting consumers when they seek financial services. That role revolves around four pillars: rulemaking, enforcement, community affairs and consumer education.Consumer protection

Remittance flows to post-conflict states: perspectives on human security and development

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Center Task Force Reports, a publication series that began publishing in 2009 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.Migrant remittances – that is, money or other goods sent to relatives in the country of origin– play an increasingly central role in post-conflict reconstruction and national development of conflict-affected states. Private remittances are of central importance for restoring stability and enhancing human security in post-conflict countries. Yet the dynamics of conflict-induced remittance flows and the possibilities of leveraging remittances for post-conflict development have been sparsely researched to date. This Pardee Center Task Force Report is the outcome of an interdisciplinary research project organized by the Boston University Center for Finance, Law & Policy, in collaboration with The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The Task Force was convened by Boston University development economist John R. Harris and international banking expert Donald F. Terry, and social anthropologist Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Visiting Researcher at the Boston University African Studies Center, served as lead researcher and editor for the report. The Task Force was asked to research, analyze, and propose policy recommendations regarding the role of remittances in post-conflict environments and their potential to serve as a major source of development funds. The report’s authors collectively suggest a broader approach to remittance institutions that provides flexibility to adapt to specific local practices and to make broader institutional connections in an era of growing population displacement and expanding human and capital flows. Conditions for more productive use of migrants’ remittances are analyzed while drawing upon case studies from post-conflict countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The papers in this Task Force Report establish the importance of remittances for sustaining local livelihoods as well as rehabilitating institutional infrastructures and improving financial inclusion in post-conflict environments. Highlighting the increasing complexity of global remittance systems, the report examines the growing informality of conflict-induced remittance flows and explores solutions for more efficient linkages between financial institutions of different scales and degrees of formality. It discusses challenges to regulating international remittance transfers in the context of growing concerns about transparency, and documents the increasing role of diaspora networks and migrant associations in post-conflict co-development initiatives. The Task Force Report authors outline the main challenges to leveraging remittances for post-conflict development and make recommendations for further research and policy applications