13,167 research outputs found
Will online bill payment spell the demise of paper checks?
Over the past several years, the emergence and adoption of electronic payment instruments have acutely affected check usage. This transition has been especially evident at the point of sale as debit and credit cards have become pervasive. Today, the rapid growth of online bill payment looks to threaten checks’ last redoubt. However, bill payment technology is still in its adolescence; the interplay of many stakeholders in the industry, including technology firms, banks, billers, payment cards, and customers, has led to rapid, unscripted innovation in just a few years. This paper quantifies some of the trends in the industry while addressing the interests and impact of the market’s prime movers in an effort to determine to what extent the displacement of checks will continue.Electronic funds transfers ; Checks ; Internet banking
The cost effectiveness of stored-value products for unbanked customers
On March 30, 2005, the Payment Cards Center hosted a workshop led by Sherrie L.W. Rhine and Sabrina Su of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Office of Regional and Community Affairs to discuss the relevance of stored-value cards to “unbanked” or underserved consumers. The authors framed the issue by first examining the characteristics of the unbanked before describing the particular card products that may be the most relevant for providing financial services to such consumers. While limitations remain, including an unsettled legal and regulatory landscape and the challenges associated with providing credit reporting and asset building features, the authors concluded that these products can offer a cost-effective means for unbanked customers to access financial services outside of a traditional banking relationship.Unbanked ; Stored-value cards
Micropayments: the final frontier for electronic consumer payments
Small payments of less than $5 have resisted the wave of electronification that has swept consumer payments in recent years. However, a number of innovations — both new technologies and new ways of doing business — have done much to make such electronic “micropayments” less expensive and more convenient. Now, having proven themselves in several online markets, micropayments are poised to make inroads at the physical point of sale. This paper looks at some of the success stories (and failures), both in the U.S. and abroad, to identify possible conditions for success and to gauge the outlook for the future. It finds that industry structure, the coordination of standards, and customer preferences and experiences have all influenced the development of these products. While different markets around the world have supported different types of solutions, the successful products have delivered clear utility to the consumer, along with compelling economics for the different parties in the value chain. With critical mass in sight, the future looks promising.Electronic funds transfers
Information security, data breaches, and protecting cardholder information: facing up to the challenges
On September 13 and 14, 2006, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Electronic Funds Transfer Association (EFTA) hosted a conference entitled “Information Security, Data Breaches, and Protecting Cardholder Information: Facing Up to the Challenges.” The two-day event was designed to bring together a diverse set of stakeholders from the U.S. payments industry to discuss a framework to guide industry practices and inform public policy. This paper summarizes key highlights from this event. Conference participants emphasized that the industry must address two fundamental issues: (1) increasingly dangerous threats to sensitive consumer information and (2) public perception and understanding of the risks from data breaches. These challenges are related but need different solutions. A consensus emerged that while the situation is not yet dire, it is serious, and warrants attention from all payments stakeholders.Data protection ; Payment systems ; Computer security
Graphical programming and the use of simulation for space-based manipulators
Robotic manipulators are difficult to program even without the special requirements of a zero-gravity environment. While attention should be paid to investigating the usefulness of industrial application programming methods to space manipulators, new methods with potential application to both environments need to be invented. These methods should allow various levels of autonomy and human-in-the-loop interaction and simple, rapid switching among them. For all methods simulation must be integrated to provide reliability and safety. Graphical programming of manipulators is a candidate for an effective robot programming method despite current limitations in input devices and displays. A research project in task-level robot programming has built an innovative interface to a state-of-the-art commercial simulation and robot programming platform. The prototype demonstrates simple augmented methods for graphical programming and simulation which may be of particular interest to those concerned with Space Station applications; its development has also raised important issues for the development of more sophisticated robot programming tools. Both aspects of the project are discussed
Photon induced secondary electron emission
Numerical models for predicting photon-induced secondary electron emission are presented. The results are compared with experimental measurements made using a Co-60 gamma ray source
Work hardening behavior in a steel with multiple TRIP mechanisms
Transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) behavior was studied in steel with
composition Fe-0.07C-2.85Si-15.3Mn-2.4Al-0.017N that exhibited two TRIP
mechanisms. The initial microstructure consisted of both {\epsilon}- and
{\alpha}-martensites with 27% retained austenite. TRIP behavior in the first 5%
strain was predominately austenite transforming to {\epsilon}-martensite (Stage
I), but upon saturation of Stage I, the {\epsilon}-martensite transformed to
{\alpha}-martensite (Stage II). Alloy segregation also affected the TRIP
behavior with alloy rich regions producing TRIP just prior to necking. This
behavior was explained by first principle calculations that revealed aluminum
significantly affected the stacking fault energy in Fe-Mn-Al-C steels by
decreasing the unstable stacking fault energy and promoting easy nucleation of
{\epsilon}-martensite. The addition of aluminum also raised the intrinsic
stacking fault energy and caused the {\epsilon}-martensite to be unstable and
transform to {\alpha}-martensite under further deformation. The two stage TRIP
behavior produced a high strain hardening exponent of 1.4 and led to ultimate
tensile strength of 1165 MPa and elongation to failure of 35%.Comment: submitted to Met. Mater. Trans. A manuscript E-TP-12-953-
Synthesis and characteristics of polyarylene ether sulfones
A method utilizing potassium carbonate/dimethyl acetamide, as base and solvent respectively, was used for the synthesis of several homopolymers and copolymers derived from various bisphenols. It is demonstrated that this method deviates from simple second order kinetics; this deviation being due to the heterogeneous nature of the reaction. Also, it is shown that a liquid induced crystallization process can improve the solvent resistance of these polymers. Finally, a Monte Carlo simulation of the triad distribution of monomers in nonequilibrium copolycondensation is discussed
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