From stolen checks to "deepfake" scams, fraudsters are costing businesses, banks, and individuals billions every year.

Vanity McDaniel and Jennifer Stadler provide a snapshot of how consumers pay for goods and services today and reflect on the latest technology trends in the U.S. payments system, including contactless payments, digital wallets, "buy now, pay later," instant payments, and the use of artificial intelligence. McDaniel is a senior payments business advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Stadler is executive vice president of marketing and membership at PaymentsFirst, a payments industry association.

Financial institutions have approached AI with cautious optimism, developing and implementing AI-based applications for things like customer service chatbots, detecting fraud, and evaluating creditworthiness. Bank supervisors are learning how to adapt.

Perhaps history can be a guide on whether central banks should issue digital currencies.

The technology behind cryptocurrencies shows promise for raising capital but has also drawn scrutiny from regulators.

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