Payments Inclusion
In a September 2020 paper, the Atlanta Fed looked 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 has 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 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, in 2021, the Atlanta Fed formed a special multidisciplinary committee made up of experts in the fields of payments and financial inclusion. The committee remained active for two years.
The Special Committee on Payments Inclusion (2021–2023)
The committee, together with the Atlanta Fed, aimed 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 group worked to advance ubiquitous access to safe, efficient, and inclusive payments for all.
To accomplish its goals, the committee commissioned 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 group published the results of that research in its report, "Promoting Payments Inclusion in a Digital Payments Era."
While the committee is no longer active, its work continues to inform the Atlanta Fed’s efforts to promote payments access.