Workshop on Promoting the Use of Electronic Payments: Considering Future Requirements

The Workshop on Promoting the Use of Electronic Payments: Considering Future Requirements, was held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on October 10–11, 2000. As the financial services industry enters the 21st century, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan co-hosted this work- shop to address the future development and broader use of electronic payments.

In 1999, the workshop considered whether legal and technology hurdles stood in the way of the greater migration to electronic payments. Speakers and workshop participants alike noted critical areas where obstacles or technical issues existed. However, speakers also came to the conclusion that, in many cases, the most critical questions surrounded better understanding the business cases for various payment innovations and finding better ways to collaborate. Speakers also made it clear that technology, law and public policy must evolve over time within the context of business requirements. Consequently, this workshop considered:

• What have we learned from other countries' experiences with electronic banking, payment cards, e-cash, business-to-business payments etc.? To what degree do country-specific factors influence the evolution of payment mechanisms? To what degree do incentives influence the evolution? What are the implications for providers, public policymakers, and the legal and technology communities?
• What are the business cases for alternative payment innovations? For E-cash? Payment cards? Electronic bill payment? Person-to-person payments? Business-to-business payments? How have increasingly online markets influenced the above questions? How have providers, merchants, and consumers responded? What critical priorities do private and public sector leaders need to be thinking about in the next several years?
• How are technology, security and legal policies evolving? What work is underway and what should private and public sector leaders be thinking about in this area in the next several years?