Visit the Payment Cards Center

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has created a Payment Cards Center designed to help both businesses and consumers explore the many facets of credit and payments.

The Center performs its own research and analysis, as well as compiling research done by outside business and government groups. The Payment Cards Center website provides access to industry publications, as well as research tools, and analysis of current and pending legislation. It also provides a consumer information center where individuals can learn about using and managing credit as well as protecting their identities. Additionally, the Center hosts workshops that bring businesses together with legislators and regulators to discuss current credit and payment issues.

As a small business owner, you should not only understand how current legislation affects your business, you should also understand trends in consumer spending habits so that you can effectively meet your customers’ needs. The following areas of the Payment Cards Center website can help:

Payment Cards Center Publications: includes discussion papers, working papers from economists, business review articles, and PCC Notes on current topics. Of particular interest is the Trends and Preferences in Consumer Payments: Lessons from the Visa Payment Panel Study which shows how consumers are moving away from cash and paper checks towards electronic payments.

Tools for Researchers: Tools for understanding the industry including a payments bibliography, a payment cards data dictionary, research articles and a comprehensive consumer credit statistics center.

Legislative Updates: Summaries and analysis of current and pending payment card legislation, regulation, and judicial activity.

Related Resources: Links to outside resources and studies done by other Federal Reserve Banks.

That’s just scratches the surface. Visit the Payment Cards Center today, and check out all of the valuable resources.