The emphasis in this conference on bringing users of the payments system together with the providers of financial services demonstrates the importance of a balanced approach as we examine challenges for the payments system.
A number of these topics illustrate the need to identify the attributes that users value and demand in payments systems--both in current systems and in the next generation of these systems--and to determine how that demand will be met. A particularly important topic is how electronic payments systems can better meet the needs of business users.