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
California Wildfires, Property Damage, and Mortgage Repayment
WP 23-05 – This paper examines wildfires’ impact on mortgage repayment using novel data that combines property-level damages and mortgage performance data.
CFI COVID-19 Survey of Consumers
30 May ’23
To gain insights into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial security in the U.S., the Consumer Finance Institute at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia conducted a series of national surveys of consumers beginning in April 2020 and concluding in April 2022.
Consumer Finance
What is the Consumer Finance Institute?
We study credit and payment markets to understand how they affect consumers and the economy.
Working Paper
Not Cashing In on Cashing Out: An Analysis of Low Cash-Out Refinance Rates
WP 23-04 – More than half of borrowers who have both home equity and high-interest loans fail to reduce their overall debt burden by folding this high-interest debt into a lower-interest mortgage when they undertake a mortgage refinance.
Working Paper
The Age Gap in Mortgage Access
WP 23-03 – This paper uses data on millions of single-borrower mortgage applications to study the relationship between applicant age and mortgage application outcomes.
Event
Oct
19-20
2023
New Perspectives on Consumer Behavior in Credit and Payments Markets: Call for Papers
Paper Submission Deadline: June 15, 2023
Report
Examining Resolution of Mortgage Forbearances and Delinquencies – First Quarter 2023
New in 2023 — “Lessons Learned from the CARES Act Mortgage Forbearance Program and Its Aftermath”
Working Paper
Missouri’s Medicaid Contraction and Consumer Financial Outcomes
WP 20-42/R – In July 2005, the state of Missouri implemented a series of cuts to its Medicaid program. These cuts resulted in the elimination of the Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities program, more stringent eligibility requirements, and less generous Medicaid coverage for eligible individuals.
COVID-19
COVID-19 and the Philadelphia Fed
Get the Philadelphia Fed’s latest information, resources, and research on the coronavirus pandemic's impact on businesses, households, and communities.
Consumer Finance
Consumer Finance Institute Visiting Scholars
We regularly invite outside experts in consumer finance and payments to conduct independent research, collaborate with our staff economists and analysts, and participate in our events.
Conference Summary
Summary of the Fourth Workshop on Payments, Lending, and Innovations in Consumer Finance
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Consumer Finance Institute (CFI) and Supervisory Research Forum (SURF) held the Fourth Workshop on Payments, Lending, and Innovations in Consumer Finance on October 26‒27, 2022.