Ben Fung

ben-fung

Director

Ben Fung is Director of Economic Research and Analysis in the Currency Department of the Bank of Canada. His main role is to provide leadership in the department’s economic research program and to provide advice to the department on issues related to developments in retail payments and their implications for the demand for cash. Ben also has extensive experience in monetary policy research and analysis. From 2000 to 2003, Ben worked as senior economist at the Bank for International Settlements’ Hong Kong Office. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Western Ontario.

Contact

Ben Fung

Director
Currency
Economic Research and Analysis

Bank of Canada
234 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G9

Curriculum vitae

Latest

Canadian Bank Notes and Dominion Notes: Lessons for Digital Currencies

Staff Working Paper 2017-5 Ben Fung, Scott Hendry, Warren E. Weber
This paper studies the period in Canada when both private bank notes and government-issued notes (Dominion notes) were simultaneously in circulation. Because both of these notes shared many of the characteristics of today's digital currencies, the experience with these notes can be used to draw lessons about how digital currencies might perform.
Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Working Papers Topic(s): Bank notes, E-Money, Financial services JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5, E58

Central Bank Digital Currencies: A Framework for Assessing Why and How

Staff Discussion Paper 2016-22 Ben Fung, Hanna Halaburda
Digital currencies have attracted strong interest in recent years and have the potential to become widely adopted for use in making payments. Public authorities and central banks around the world are closely monitoring developments in digital currencies and studying their implications for the economy, the financial system and central banks.
Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Discussion Papers Topic(s): E-Money, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42

14 May 2015 The Use of Cash in Canada

Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2015 Ben Fung, Kim Huynh, Gerald Stuber
The Bank of Canada’s 2013 Methods-of-Payment Survey indicates that the share of cash in the overall number of retail transactions has continued to decrease, mainly because of increased use of contactless credit cards. The share of cash in the total value of retail transactions was virtually unchanged from 2009 to 2013. In particular, the value share of cash transactions above $50 increased. Automated banking machines (ABMs), still the major source of cash for Canadians, were used less often in 2013 than in 2009. Cash use in Canada is broadly similar to that in Australia and the United States.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Bank notes, E-Money, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, E, E4, E42, G, G2, G21, L, L8, L81

13 May 2014 Understanding Platform-Based Digital Currencies

Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2014 Ben Fung, Hanna Halaburda
Given technological advances and the widespread use of the Internet, various digital currencies have emerged. In most cases, Internet platforms such as Facebook and Amazon restrict the functionality of their digital currencies to enhance the business model and maximize their profits. While platform-based digital currencies could increase the efficiency of retail payments, they could also raise some important policy issues if they were to become widely used outside of the platform. Thus, it is important to closely monitor the evolution of these digital currencies.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Bank notes, E-Money, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42

Electronic Money and Payments: Recent Developments and Issues

Staff Discussion Paper 2014-2 Ben Fung, Miguel Molico, Gerald Stuber
The authors review recent developments in retail payments in Canada and elsewhere, with a focus on e-money products, and assess their potential public policy implications.
Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Discussion Papers Topic(s): Bank notes, E-Money, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42

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Refereed Journals

Other publications

  • "Modelling Financial Channels for Monetary Policy Analysis."
    (with Ian Christensen and Césaire Meh) Bank of Canada Review (Autumn 2006)
  • "Yield and inflation differentials between Canada and the United States,"
    (with Eli Remolona). Proceedings of the Bank of Canada Conference on "Information in Financial Asset Prices." 1999.
  • "The stance of monetary policy"
    (with M. Yuan). Proceedings of the Bank of Canada Conference on "Money, Monetary Policy, and Transmission Mechanism." 2000.
  • "Composition of US Dollar foreign exchange reserves by instrument"
    (with R. McCauley), Bank for International Settlements Quarterly Review, November 2000, pp.59-60.
  • "How active are central banks in managing their US dollar reserve portfolios?"
    (with R. McCauley), Bank for International Settlements Quarterly Review, March 2001, pp.31-32.
  • "Analyzing the growth of Taiwanese deposits in foreign currency,"
    (with R. McCauley), Bank for International Settlements Quarterly Review, September 2001, pp. 49-56.
  • "China's Asset Management Corporations"
    (with G. Ma), Bank for International Settlements Working Paper, 115.
  • "A VAR analysis of the effects of monetary policy in East Asia",
    Bank for International Settlements Working Paper, 119.
  • "Public asset management companies in East Asia,"
    (with J. George, S. Hohl, and G. Ma), Financial Stability Institute Occasional Paper No. 3, February 2004

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Education

  • Ph.D. (Economics), University of Western Ontario
  • B.Soc.Sc., M.Soc.Sc. (Economics), University of Hong Kong

Research Interests

  • Money and Banking
  • Payments economics

RePEc

Ben Fung

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