How Did Covid Change Payments Preferences and will those changes be permanent?

The COVID pandemic changed everyone’s lives, so it is no surprise that it changed how people paid for goods and services. In this episode, we tackle what happened and what it means with Claire Green, payments risk expert at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and Joanna Stavins, senior economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 
We get into three big questions on everyone’s mind: 

1. How did payments behavior and preferences change in the pandemic? 
   

1. Will those changes last? 
   

1. Am I normal when I compare my payments choices to the rest of the country? 
   

Our guest provide insights into all of these questions and how they are relevant for fintech companies as they chart a course forward.  
In addition, below is a list of recent research on consumer behavior that is worth reading whether you are designing financial products or just want to see how you compare with the rest of the country.  
Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking 
2021, released May 23, 2021 
https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed.htm 
  
Cash Product Office, FRB San Francisco 
2022 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice 
2021, released May 5, 2021 
https://www.frbsf.org/cash/publications/fed-notes/2022/may/2022-findings-from-the-diary-of-consumer-payment-choice/ 
  
Payments Evolution from Paper to Electronic Payments by Merchant Type 
By Ruth Cohen, Oz Shy, and Joanna Stavins 
https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-department-working-paper/2022/payments-evolution-from-paper-to-electronic-payments-by-merchant-type.aspx 
posted May 2021 
  
Has Covid changed consumer payment behavior? 
By Claire Greene, Ellen Merry, and Joanna Stavins 
https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-department-working-paper/2021/has-covid-changed-consumer-payment-behavior.aspx 
  
All consumer survey data and reports available for download at Atlantafed.org (includes questionnaires and data codebooks) 
https://www.atlantafed.org/banking-and-payments/consumer-payments.aspx