Consumer Finance
Our Consumer Finance Institute researches how people earn, spend, save, and invest, as well as how credit markets and payment systems affect the economy. Our goal is to foster a healthy consumer sector, a stable financial system, and a resilient regional and national economy.
Working Paper
Interchange Fees in Payment Networks: Implications for Prices, Profits, and Welfare
WP 25-18 – This paper examines the level of a wholesale price — the interchange fee — typically set by a payment card network that influences the distribution of acceptance costs and benefits incurred or received by merchants and consumers.
Report
LIFE Survey Report – April 2025
This report is part of a quarterly series on key observations from the Labor, Income, Finances, and Expectations (LIFE) Survey. Data from the survey provide insight into consumers’ recent financial lives and their future expectations.
Brief
4-in-6 Payment Products — Buy Now, Pay Later Data from the LIFE Survey (2025)
This report presents an analysis of trends in 4-in-6 usage, demographics, and consumers’ financial health from CFI surveys collected in January 2023, January 2024, and January 2025 that cover respondents’ use of 4-in-6 payment products during the last three holiday seasons.
Working Paper
The Effect of the Great Recession on Student Loan Borrowing and Repayment
WP 25-13 – We study the long-term effect of the Great Recession on federal student loan borrowing and repayment. Using detailed longitudinal data on federal student loan borrowers, we compare labor markets that faced varying degrees of unemployment severity during the economic downturn.
Event
Nov
6-7
2025
New Perspectives on Consumer Behavior in Credit and Payments Markets Conference – 2025
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Conference Summary
Workshop on Changing Demographics and Housing Demand
On October 24 and 25, 2024, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Consumer Finance Institute (CFI) and Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group (ESR) cohosted a hybrid conference on the topic of changing U.S. population demographics and their influence on housing demand and housing finance.
Report
How Americans Use Social Media for Financial Advice
Social media has become a popular source for financial advice. Surveys indicate that people, especially those in younger generations, are increasingly turning to social media platforms for advice on various financial topics, including budgeting, saving, and investing.(1)