Measuring credit card industry chargeoffs: a review of sources and methods

The percentage of credit card loans that are charged off by card issuers during a particular month or quarter is an important metric. It provides insights into the financial health of the credit card industry and the U.S. consumer. After offering a brief overview of credit card chargeoff reporting, this paper describes five different chargeoff statistics in detail. Sampling techniques, frequency, availability, and calculation methods for each statistic are discussed and compared. One of the paper’s key findings is that the various on-balance-sheet and off-balance-sheet chargeoff measures, after moving in the same general direction for almost a decade, have recently diverged and become less correlated.Credit cards

Consumer bankruptcy: how unsecured lenders fare

On September 8, 2003, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop on consumer bankruptcy and its effect on unsecured lenders. Professor Melissa Jacoby of Temple University’s School of Law led the workshop. A leading bankruptcy scholar, Jacoby described the current bankruptcy system and the potential impact of Chapter 7 reforms on the rights of unsecured creditors. This paper summarizes Jacoby’s presentation and the ensuing discussion. It offers a brief overview of consumer bankruptcy and the rights of unsecured creditors that lend money to individuals who ultimately file for bankruptcy. ; It also discusses the proposed amendments to the bankruptcy code being debated in Congress. Finally, the paper concludes with Jacoby’s assessment of how unsecured lenders, such as credit card issuers, would likely be treated in the proposed system.Bankruptcy

An overview of credit card asset-backed securities

Summary: On Friday, October 25, 2002, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia held a workshop that focused on credit card asset-backed securities. Mark Adelson, head of structured finance research at Nomura Securities International, led the workshop. A veteran analyst of the ABS market, Adelson has written numerous articles and special reports on securitization. During the workshop, Adelson explained the growth, pricing, and mechanics of credit card asset-backed securities. He also discussed some key issues currently facing ABS markets. This paper supplements material from Adelson's presentation with additional information on the development of credit card ABS and the securitization process.Credit cards

Consumer credit counseling: credit card issuers' perspectives

On Friday, May 23, 2003, the Payment Cards Center hosted a workshop led by collections managers from J.P. Morgan Chase and Juniper Bank. The managers provided the credit card issuers' perspective on the consumer credit counseling industry. The day's discussion complemented an earlier workshop at which representatives from local consumer credit counseling services (CCCS) discussed their business model. After describing the ways in which new market entrants have affected the counseling industry, the issuers discussed the challenges associated with administering and appropriately valuing the services of various agencies. This paper provides highlights from the workshop discussions.Credit cards ; Credit counseling

The laws, regulations, and industry practices that protect consumers who use electronic payment systems: policy considerations

This is the third in a series of three papers that examines the laws, regulations, and voluntary industry practices that may aid consumers who contest an electronic transaction because of error, fraud, or merchant dispute. The first two papers describe the complex web of protections available to users of four popular electronic payment mechanisms: credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, and ACH e-checks. This third paper considers how protections related to fraud, error, and disputes affect market participants. The paper concludes that (i) the current protection mechanisms make it more difficult to encourage the adoption of fraud-reduction schemes, (ii) the current protections represent a significant cost to banks, merchants, processors, and consumers, and (iii) the present federal system of protection, while encouraging innovation and thoughtful regulation, leads to consumer confusion.Payment systems ; Fraud ; Consumer protection

Prepaid card markets and regulation

Prepaid cards, also commonly referred to as stored-value cards, are typically credit card-sized pieces of plastic that contain or represent an amount of pre-loaded value. They include a wide range of payment products, such as gift cards, payroll cards, teen cards, and travel cards. Despite significant product innovations, it is unclear whether and how existing federal and state laws that apply to other financial products (e.g., checks, credit cards, deposit accounts) apply to the different varieties of prepaid cards. Overall, the law in this area is very much unsettled. In an effort to understand the legal and regulatory issues facing prepaid cards, the Center invited Judith Rinearson, chief counsel to American Express’ electronic stored-value business, to present a workshop on the topic. This paper provides highlights from Rinearson’s presentation. It analyzes the different kinds of prepaid card products on the market and the federal and state laws that potentially apply to them.Regulation E: Electronic Fund Transfers ; Stored-value cards

An overview of smart card technology and markets

As part of the Payment Cards Center's series of discussion papers, this paper provides an overview of smart card technology and its potential for significantly increasing payment card functionality. In addition to reviewing the current market for smart cards in the U.S., this paper examines the costs and barriers associated with their wide spread adoption. European and US smart card acceptance is compared. In addition, this paper provides background on the technological and infrastructure developments behind smart cards, a discussion of current smart card applications, and a review of smart card adoption in banking.Smart cards

Payment system regulation and how it causes consumer confusion

On October 14, 2004, the Payment Cards Center hosted a workshop led by Professor Mark Budnitz of Georgia State University School of Law. Budnitz, the author of four books and many Law Review articles on consumer payments, described how the current regime of consumer payment regulation and various new payment products have led to much confusion among consumers. He also discussed a remedy for this situation: the adoption of uniform federal consumer protection standards. This paper summarizes the workshop and is organized around two of Budnitz’s key assertions: (1) the current regulatory environment is confusing for consumers and (2) there is a need for more uniform consumer protection standards.Consumer protection ; Debit cards

An overview and history of credit reporting

On April 5, 2002, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia held a workshop that explored the uses and evolution of credit reporting companies. Leading the workshop was a group of executives from TransUnion LLC : Tony Capaldi, Group Vice President for the Eastern Region; Dan Brackle, Vice President, Philadelphia; and Chet Wiermanski, Vice President, Analytical Services. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, TransUnion is a leading global provider of information and decision-processing services, maintaining one of the largest databases of consumer credit information in the world, serving businesses and consumers in the U.S. This paper includes a short history of credit reporting, an overview of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and a review of credit reporting company markets and uses. Information from the TransUnion workshop is supplemented by additional research.

The laws, regulations, and industry practices that protect consumers who use electronic payment systems: credit and debit cards

Summary: This is the first in a series of three papers that examines the protections available to users of various electronic payment vehicles who fall victim to fraud, discover an error on their statement, or have a dispute with a merchant after making a purchase. Specifically, it examines in detail the federal and state laws that protect consumers in the three situations described above as well as the relevant association, network, and bank policies that may apply. The protection information included in this paper is derived from a wide range of public and non-public sources, including federal and state statutes, consumer-issuer contracts, and interviews with scores of payments industry experts. This first paper focuses on the two most widely used electronic payment methods: credit cards and debit cards. The second paper in the series will examine two newer electronic payment vehicles: ACH debits and prepaid cards. The third paper will discuss the broader industry and policy implications of the authors’ findings.Regulation E: Electronic Fund Transfers ; Regulation Z: Truth in Lending ; Consumer protection ; Fraud