Promises & Pitfalls:
As Consumer Finance Options Multiply, Who Is Being Served and at What Cost?

A Federal Reserve System Community Affairs Research Conference
Washington, D.C.
April 7-8, 2005

This Web site contains the papers from a conference organized by the Community Affairs Officers of the Federal Reserve System. Papers included in the Web site are to be considered working papers. They are reproduced here to make them available to scholars and practitioners with a serious interest in the topics presented. Many of the papers are in preliminary form and will be submitted for publication elsewhere. The works here should be cited as working papers and considered preliminary drafts of any subsequent publication. Although all papers have been screened for relevance to the subject matter of the conference, they have not been subjected to a rigorous refereeing process nor edited for form or content by the Federal Reserve.

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4

Session Three: New Markets, New Products, New Tools

Moderator
Dan Tatar, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Consumer Literacy and Creditworthiness (PDF,1,213KB)
Marsha Courchane, ERS Group
Peter Zorn, Freddie Mac
Presentation (PDF,46KB)

Effectiveness of Online "Early Intervention" Financial Education for Credit Cardholders (PDF,189KB)
Kimberly Gartner, Credit Card Project of The Saint Paul Foundation
Richard M. Todd, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Presentation (PDF,13KB)

Credit Counseling and Mortgage Termination by Low-Income Households (PDF,1,966KB)
Claudio Gonzalez-Vega, The Ohio State University
Valentina Hartarska, Auburn University
Presentation (PDF,55KB)

Moving From Unbanked to Banked: Evidence from the Money Smart Program (PDF,145KB)
Angela C. Lyons and Erik Scherpf, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Presentation (PDF,26KB)

Discussants
Stephen Brobeck, Consumer Federation of America Remarks (PDF,16KB)
Michael Staten, Georgetown University Remarks (PDF,30KB)

Moderator
Geoff Smith, Woodstock Institute

Prospects for Immigrant-Native Wealth Assimilation: Evidence from Financial Market Participation (PDF,316KB) Tables (PDF,224KB)
Una Okonkwo Osili, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Anna Paulson, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Presentation (PDF,43KB)

Banking on Remittances: Increasing Market Efficiencies for Consumers and Financial Institutions (PDF,532KB)
Ana Cruz-Taura, Sybill Howell, Jessica LeVeen, Elizabeth McQuerry, Juan Sanchez, and Wayne Smith, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Marianne A. Hilgert, Jeanne Hogarth, and Edwin Lucio, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Presentation (PDF,28KB)

Stored-Value Cards: Challenges and Opportunities for Reaching Emerging Markets (PDF,500KB)
Katy Jacob and Jennifer Tescher, Center for Financial Services Innovation
Sabrina Su and Sherrie L.W. Rhine, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Presentation (PDF,16KB)

Discussant
Manuel Orozco, Georgetown University Remarks (PDF,23KB)