The Payment System And Monetary Policy

Achieving the primary objective of price stability without unduly compromising the operational efficiency of the payment system constitutes a major problem for central banks. Routine monetary policy presumes a given institutional and technological framework, including aspects of the payment system. Such a monetary policy concerns itself with intraday and interday credit for payments settlements and with float. Liquidity shocks and panics sometimes pose an additional challenge. In recent years, major and rapid institutional and technological changes in the payment system (mainly to lower risks and augment operational efficiency) have affected the monetary policy decision-making process, particularly in the short run.

A payment system encompasses a set of instruments and means generally acceptable in making payments; the institutional and organizational framework governing such payments, including prudential regulation; and the operating procedures and communications network used to initiate and transmit payment information from payer to payee and to settle payments. This book, by Omotunde E.G. Johnson, with Richard K. Abrams, Jean-Marc Destresse, Tony Lybek, Nicholas Roberts, and Mark Swinburne, identifies main policy and strategic issues in payment system reform, describes the structure of payment systems in selected countries, highlights areas of consensus, and suggests the direction for future policy analysis.

Provides an in-depth overview of the Federal Reserve System, including information about monetary policy and the economy, the Federal Reserve in the international sphere, supervision and regulation, consumer and community affairs and services offered by Reserve Banks. Contains several appendixes, including a brief explanation of Federal Reserve regulations, a glossary of terms, and a list of additional publications.

"Central bankers worldwide welcome the recent increase of research on payment systems. This volume, providing an expert overview on this timely subject, should be required reading for us all". - Erkki Liikanen, Governor of the Bank of Finland Monetary policy has been at the centre of economic research from the early stages of economic thought, but payment system research has attracted increased academic attention only in the past decade. This book’s succeeds in merging these two so far largely separated fields. Innovative and groundbreaking, Schmitz and Woods initiate research on the interdependence of institutional change in the payments system and monetary policy, examining the different channels via which payment systems affect monetary policy. It explores important themes such as: conceptualization and methods of analysis of institutional change in the payments system determinants of institutional change in the payments system – political-economy versus technology empirics of institutional change in the retail and in the wholesale payments systems – policy initiatives and new technologies in the payments system implications of institutional change in the payments system for monetary policy and the instruments available to central banks to cope with it. The result is an accessible overview of conceptual and methodological approaches to institutional change in payment systems, and a comprehensive and yet thorough assessment of its implications for monetary policy. The insights this timely book provides will be invaluable for researchers and practitioners in the field of monetary economics.

This book makes a practical contribution to increased understanding of payment system design and management and of the relationship between the payment system and monetary policy. The authors of the twelve papers included in the book are central banking experts from around the world who draw on their experiences in providing technical assistance to the central banks of the countries of the former U.S.S.R.

The U.S. payment system is in the midst of a significant transition. Some of the changes to our payment system, involving its efficiency, the risks inherent in the payment process, and the role of the private and public sectors in the payment mechanism, are the subject of considerable debate and controversy. In recent years, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has played an active part in the development and implementation of policies to improve the payment process. The Bank's operations staff has represented the Federal Reserve System in work with the banking industry to help shape and implement programs to increase efficiency and reduce payment risk. Further, our Research Department has made payment system research an important part of its agenda. The mix of practical experience and research has resulted in a unique perspective on payment system issues that led us to organize a symposium on the U.S. payment system, held on May 25-26, 1988, in Williamsburg, Virginia. Reflecting our belief in the importance of combining both practical experience and theory in addressing payment issues, we invited practi tioners, scholars, and policymakers to share their ideas. The symposium provided an opportunity for those researchers who are studying p- xi PREFACE xii ment issues to present their ideas and to have these ideas evaluated by experienced practitioners.

Drawing on wide-ranging contributions from prominent international experts and discussing some of the most pressing issues facing policy makers and practitioners in the field of payment systems today, this volume provides cutting-edge perspectives on the current issues surrounding payment systems and their future. It covers a range of continually important topics, including: the form payment systems might take in the future the risks associated with this evolution the techniques being deployed to assess these risks and the implications these risks have for the respective roles of the public and private sector. Produced in association with the Bank of England, this book is fascinating reading for practitioners and policy makers in the field of payment systems, as well as students and researchers engaged with the economics of payments and central banking policy.

The payment system is one of the mechanisms essential to the working of an exchange economy. Over the last decade, central banks have been determined to improve their payment systems to harmonise and reduce risk, and in Europe to anticipate their future interconnection in the TARGET system. This book provides the analytic framework for an informed policy debate on the implications for monetary policy.