Retail payments systems around the world have entered a period of dramatic change. This conference explored the changing retail payments landscape and assessed the extent to which central bank payments policies should correspondingly be altered. The conference brought together three principal audiences – industry participants, policy makers, and academics – for an exchange of views and thoughts. Questions addressed included: How do payments markets differ from other markets? How do consumer preferences impact industry outcomes? Are payments markets sufficiently competitive and safe? If not, what private and public policies would be beneficial? Should central bank policies to ensure smoothly-functioning payments systems be adapted in light of the dynamic changes underway? More specifically, what role should central banks play as operators and overseers in the retail payments system of the future.

2009 Conference Proceedings

Foreword
Thomas M. Hoenig

President and Chief Executive Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Contributors

Conference Summary

Bruce Summers
Former Director
Federal Reserve Information Technology

Keynote Address

General Discussion

Dan Hesse
Chief Executive Officer
Sprint Nextel Corporation

Session 1: The Changing Retail Payments Landscape: An Overview
Paper | Commentary | General Discussion |

Author

Harry Leinonen
Advisor to the Board, Financial Markets and Statistics
Bank of Finland

Discussant

Tony Hayes
Partner
Oliver Wyman Group

Session 2: Determinants of Consumer Payments Usage
Paper | Commentary | General Discussion |

Author

Marc Rysman
Associate Professor of Economics
Boston University

Discussant

Kylie Smith
Manager, Payments Policy
Reserve Bank of Australia

Session 3: Economics of Payments Markets
Paper | Commentary | General Discussion

Author

Sujit Chakravorti
Senior Economist
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Discussant
Dennis Carlton
Professor of Economics
University of Chicago

Session 4: Implications of the Changing Payments Landscape for Competition and Efficiency of Retail Payments Systems
Panel Discussion | General Discussion

Moderator
Wiebe Ruttenberg
Head of Market Integration Division, DG Payments and Market Infrastructure
European Central Bank

Panelists
Matthew Bennett
Director of Economics
UK Office of Fair Trading

Gwenn Bézard
Co-founder and Research Director
Aite Group

Dickson Chu
Vice President of Global Product and Experience
PayPal

Adam Levitin
Professor
Georgetown Law School

Session 5: Implications of the Changing Payments Landscape for Integrity of Retail Payments Systems
Panel Discussion | General Discussion

Moderator

Mark Greene
Chief Executive Officer
FICO

Panelists

Cathy Allen
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Santa Fe Group

Daniel Eckert
Senior Vice President
HSBC Card and Retail Services

Paola Masi
Head of Payments Division
Bank of Italy

James Van Dyke
President
Javelin Strategy and Research

Session 6: The Future Role of Central Banks in Retail Payments: The Central Bank as Operator
Paper | Commentary | General Discussion

Authors
Richard Oliver
Executive Vice President and Retail Payments Product Manager
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Stuart E. Weiner
Vice President and Director of Payments System Research
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Discussant

Joshua Peirez
Group Executive, Innovative Platforms Global Products and Solutions
MasterCard Worldwide

Session 7: The Future Role of Central Banks in Retail Payments: The Central Bank as Overseer
Paper | Commentary | General Discussion

Authors
Ron Berndsen
Head, Oversight Department
De Nederlandsche Bank

Bouke Buitenkamp
Overseer Retail Payments, Oversight Department
De Nederlandsche Bank

Jonathan Williams
Director of Strategic Development
Experian Payments

Session 8: Conference Wrap-Up
Paper | General Discussion

Conference Wrap-up
Bruce Summers
Former Director
Federal Reserve Information Technology

Conference Attendees