The Role of Electronic Payments in Disaster Recovery: Providing More Than Convenience

Participants examined the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and considered how these experiences may be useful in identifying opportunities to further strengthen the resiliency of our financial system. In the course of the discussion, participants made recommendations, including developing strategies for more government payments to be made electronically, consolidating and sharing data on disaster victims more broadly with relief agencies and payment providers, focusing local communities and state governments on developing contingency plans for payment continuity, and improving public- and private-sector coordination among entities that play key roles in the payment system.