FedCash® Services Demand Research

The Federal Reserve System is currently conducting research regarding the demand for FedCash Services in order to continue providing an effective and efficient mechanism for distributing new currency, processing unfit currency and ensuring that depository institutions have sufficient supplies of currency to meet public demand. The following diagram illustrates the relationships that drive the demand for FedCash Services. The Federal Reserve System has different functional groups that conduct research into the different relationships illustrated in the diagram. The Cash Product Office (CPO) is currently researching the Retail Relationships (bottom right corner in the diagram). To this end the CPO has developed a Business Interview Program.

Business Interviews

Business Interviews are comprised of two parts:

Part One

Part one consists of collection of payments mix data in terms of both value and number of transactions.

Part Two

Part two is a discussion of current trends in cash handling and payments accepted at the point of sale. A five year rolling history is collected for the payments mix data from both new and existing participants in the Business Interview program. This allows the program to expand without skewing the results across time. It also keeps the amount of data collected consistent for all participants. While the data collection provides numerical evidence of trends that have and are taking place between the various tender types, the discussion portion of the program takes a forward looking approach. The discussions touch on current cash handling practices but focus on the views of treasury officers as to the effects and timing of the adoption of new technologies on payments.

Other areas of Research Include:

  • Research Into the Cash Cycle
  • Cash Substitution
  • Consumer Research
  • Other

For additional information, contact Tavis Perez, Project Manager, Project Manager, Policy & Market Analysis.