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Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
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Payment Systems

Features

Recent Payment Trends in the United States (96 KB PDF)
U.S. consumers and businesses are continuing to switch from writing checks to paying for goods and services with credit and debit cards and other electronic payment instruments. In fact, by 2006 more than twice as many payments were being made electronically--and by early 2007, the number of debit card payments alone exceeded the number of check payments. For those payments still being made by check, the clearing process itself is also becoming more electronic, as original paper checks are increasingly being "truncated" during the clearing process and replaced with electronic images.
Image of U.S. map Federal Reserve Bank Check Restructuring Initiative
The Federal Reserve Banks began a multi-year restructuring of their check operations in 2003 as part of a long-term strategy to respond to the declining use of checks by consumers and businesses and the greater use of electronics in check processing.  The Reserve Banks will have reduced the number of full-service check processing locations from 45 in 2003 to 4 by early 2011.
Image of column Assessment of the Compliance of the Fedwire Securities Service with the Recommendations for Securities Settlement Systems
In July 2007, the Board published an assessment of the Fedwire Securities Service against the Recommendations for Securities Settlement Systems (Recommendations) that are included in the Board’s Payments System Risk Policy.  The Recommendations are a set of nineteen minimum standards, developed by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), to address legal, pre-settlement, settlement, operational, and custody risks, among other issues, in securities settlement systems.

Last update: October 30, 2008