The New Face of Retail Payments: Markets, Strategies and Regulations
Eleventh Annual Payments Conference
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago held its annual payments conference on May 19-20, 2011, titled The New Face of Retail Payments: Markets, Strategies and Regulations. During this two-day event, we focused on the following questions:
- How will consumers fare in the new payments market?
- How will financial institutions alter their business models in response to regulation and legislation?
- What will the retail payments market look like in the future?
Michael S. Barr is Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where he teaches financial regulation and international finance, among other courses. He was on leave 2009-2010 serving as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, and was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as the Administration’s housing finance policies. He is also a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and at the Brookings Institution. Barr conducts large-scale empirical research regarding financial services and writes about a wide range of issues in financial regulation. Recent books include Building Inclusive Financial Systems (Brookings Press 2007, with Kumar & Litan) and Insufficient Funds (Russell Sage 2009, with Blank). Barr previously served as U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin's Special Assistant, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, as Special Advisor to President William J. Clinton and as special advisor and counselor on the policy planning staff at the State Department. He was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and Judge Pierre N. Leval of the Southern District of New York. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, an M. Phil in International Relations from Magdalen College, Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar and his B.A., summa cum laude, with honors in history, from Yale University.
- In what ways have consumers’ payment options expanded or contracted recently?
- How will underbanked consumers respond to the new payments landscape?
- What retail payment products are most attractive to emerging markets?
- Given recent events, what trends do we see regarding cash payments?
- In what ways can paper-based payments be made more efficient?
- How are merchants altering their services to reach credit-strapped customers?
- In what ways are card networks and ACH networks competing with each other?
- How will changes in the marketplace affect consumers’ use of payment vehicles?
- What innovations are taking place at the network or bank level to address consumers’ needs?
- How will nonbank firms influence the payment landscape?
- In what ways are traditional institutions using technology to develop new business models?
- What security issues do newer payment methods entail?
- What are potential barriers and opportunities for future payment innovations?
- How will the role of non-traditional payment providers evolve?
- What is the future direction of retail payments in the U.S. given the current regulatory environment?
Last Updated: 05/24/11
