Payments Inclusion
While digital payments offer an increasing number of benefits to consumers and businesses, they can also exclude some from the financial system. The Atlanta Fed is working to ensure that all consumers and businesses have access to the nation's payment systems.
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Payments Inclusion
In a September 2020 paper, the Atlanta Fed looks at how the growth of digital payments benefits many businesses and consumers but can also shut out many households who are among the least economically mobile and resilient. This growth has led to an increasing number of businesses going cashless or adopting restrictive payment acceptance processes, practices that effectively exclude cash-based consumers, a population already marginally attached to the economy.
Work to increase financial inclusion have generally focused on bringing people without bank accounts or with limited access to financial services into the traditional financial system. The Atlanta Fed paper points out that the share of consumers who lack credit or debit cards is actually larger than the share of those who are unbanked, so proposes that focusing efforts on ensuring equitable access to new, more convenient payments services—without discouraging innovation—can increase financial inclusion.
What are the most important efforts we should pursue to ensure inclusion of this disconnected population? To identify those efforts and do the work, the Atlanta Fed has formed a special multidisciplinary committee made up of experts in the fields of payments and financial inclusion. View the charter of the Special Committee on Payments Inclusion.
The Special Committee on Payments Inclusion
The Committee, together with the Atlanta Fed, aims to play a pivotal role in supporting safe and inclusive payments innovation that advances economic mobility and resilience in the Sixth District and beyond. The Committee will work to advance ubiquitous access to safe, efficient, and inclusive payments for all.
To accomplish its goals, the Committee will commission its members to conduct research on emerging issues in payments inclusion, collect and analyze data to better understand trends in the evolving payments industry, and make recommendations to the industry or policymakers based on research findings.
The Committee will be active for two years. At the end of this term, Committee members and the Atlanta Fed will determine if there is additional work to pursue and may decide to extend the Committee's work.
Committee Members
- David Benck, senior vice president and general counsel, Hibbett Sports
- Sudheer Chava, Alton M. Costley chair and professor of finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Matt Cochran, Senior Director of External Communications, Global Payments
- Andrea Donkor, vice president, regulatory relations, PayPal
- Timothy Flacke, cofounder and executive director, Commonwealth
- John Garratt, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Dollar General
- Mark Pearce, director of the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Bruce Renard, executive director, The National ATM Council Inc.
- Courtney Robinson, head of financial inclusion and public policy development, Square Inc.
- Bob Skiba, executive vice president, InComm Payments
- John M. Turner Jr., chief executive officer and president, Regions Bank
- Silvanus J. Udoka, dean of the School of Business Administration, Clark Atlanta University
- Brian K. Williams, president, First Farmers and Merchants Bank in Columbia, Tennessee
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Our Role
The Atlanta Fed plays several key roles in the payments industry, including operator, supervisor, and researcher. Our district is also a major hub for domestic payments—approximately 70 percent of U.S. payments flow through Atlanta, earning the metro area the nickname of "Transaction Alley."
Roles the Atlanta Fed plays in payments include:
- Operator. Federal Reserve Financial Services is an integrated organization within the Federal Reserve that is responsible for managing critical payment and securities services that foster the accessibility, integrity and efficiency of the US economy.
- Supervisor. In addition to conducting exams of bank holding companies and domestic and international banks, we supervise technology service providers.
- Convener and researcher. We are exploring payments systems design and risks in technological innovation and bringing people together to share, educate, and collaborate.
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Outreach
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is committed to sharing knowledge and encourages an open dialogue through a variety of channels. Channels can include conferences, forums, webinars, and podcasts. We also write research papers and articles.
Audiences that we frequently engage with are:
- Fintechs and payments providers
- Depository financial institutions
- Third-party processors and technology service providers
- Consumers
- Trade groups
- Regulators
- Local and state government agencies
- Universities
Atlanta Fed events are typically open to these audiences. We will post event details here and on the Atlanta Fed News and Events page.
Atlanta Fed cohosts webinars
Financial inclusion is of central importance to countries across the globe, and fintechs offer great promise. On May 20, 2021, the Atlanta Fed's Americas Center and the Consulate of Brazil cohosted the Financial Inclusion and Open Banking webinar. Panelists explored how fintech and open banking are shaping financial services in the United States and Brazil and holding out the hope that innovative, technology-based financial institutions can offer financial services to the historically unbanked and underbanked. Watch the video.
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Publications
Digital Currency, Digital Payments, and the 'Last Mile' to the UnbankedUsing digital forms of payment requires funding from a source of money, such as cash or a bank account. Consequently, the unbanked population lacks access to digital payments—the so-called "last-mile" problem. This Policy Hub article examines some proposed solutions to this problem.Atlanta Fed Considers Ways to Expand Inclusion in Payments SystemBurgeoning technologies and societal changes have increased the importance of participation in the payments system. This Economy Matters article looks at ways the Atlanta Fed hopes to foster greater overall participation.Digital Payments and the Path to Financial InclusionPayments innovations offer convenience, but they can also exclude some people from our financial system. A new paper from the Atlanta Fed suggests that, to increase financial inclusion, a more effective approach than focusing on helping the underbanked become banked could be giving cash users access to digital payment vehicles that don’t depend on traditional bank accounts.As Fintech Transforms Payments, the Atlanta Fed Seeks to Guide InnovationLast year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta launched a multipronged strategic priority aimed at helping to balance innovation and safety in the payments industry. Explore our 2019 annual report, which looks at how fintech has changed the landscape of payments and how the Atlanta Fed seeks to help guide that innovation."You Can Build the Infrastructure from Zero": A Conversation about Digital Adoption in Emerging EconomiesMuch has been written about the digital revolution's impact on developed economies, but what about developing and emerging economies? The Economy Matters podcast features an Atlanta Fed economist who discusses his research into the question.Atlanta Fed Holds "Office Hours" SessionThe Atlanta Fed considers encouraging safe payments innovation to be one of its top strategic priorities. Read about a recent Atlanta Fed event where fintechs met with experts from the Atlanta Fed and the Board of Governors to discuss payments security, regulation, financial inclusion, and other matters.Delivering Benefits of Faster Payments to the UnderservedLearn how faster payments could help cash-strapped consumers mitigate misalignments between the time that incoming funds are received and the time that payments need to occur.Comparing Means of Payment: What Role for a Central Bank Digital Currency?Discover the potential benefit that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) could provide in the context of existing payment mechanisms.Observations from the FooWire Project: Experimenting with DLT for Payments UseFind out how the Federal Reserve Board used distributed ledger technology (DLT) to build a payment system. This small-scale experiment called the "FooWire Project" highlighted the potential of DLT for certain payment uses.Token- or Account-Based? A Digital Currency Can Be BothDiscover the common distinction made between "token-based" and "account-based" digital currencies and how this distinction is problematic because Bitcoin and many other digital currencies satisfy both definitions. -
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Dave Altig
Executive Vice President and Research Director
Research Division
Fonda Bigbee
Senior Credit and Risk Analyst
Credit and Risk Management
Nell Campbell-Drake
Vice President
Federal Reserve Financial Services
Natalie Channer
Examiner
Supervision and Regulation
Chris Colson
Program Director
Federal Reserve Financial Services
Joe Davidson
Senior Vice President
Supervision and Regulation
Leah Davenport
Executive Vice President
Corporate Engagement
Ernie Evangelista
Senior Knowledge Management Specialist
Public Affairs
Scarlett Heinbuch
Payments Risk Expert
Retail Payments Risk Forum
Megan Houck
Senior Business Analyst
Regional Economic Information Network
Rachel Riezman
Manager, Project Management
Cash Function Office
Lali Shaffer
Payments Risk Expert
Retail Payments Risk Forum
Oz Shy
Senior Policy Adviser Economist
Research Division
Erien Terry
Assistant Vice President
Supervision and Regulation
Brenda Thompson
Senior IT Project Manager
Business Technology and Security
Larry Wall
Research Center Executive Director
Research Division
Jessica Washington
Assistant Vice President
Retail Payments Risk Forum