About Us

Our Research Department conducts cutting-edge academic research that expands the frontier of knowledge and helps to inform monetary policy decisions. It’s organized by specialties including macroeconomic policy, macroeconomic forecasting, microeconomics, banking and finance, regional analysis, and the Program on Economic Inclusion. The department’s Center for Inflation Research provides resources on inflation to policymakers, researchers, and the public and underscores the Cleveland Fed’s longstanding expertise in and commitment to studying inflation issues.

• Researchers publish academic research on topics that are relevant to the System’s mission.
• Our economists provide policy analysis and briefings for the Bank’s president in support of her role as a participant in the FOMC.
• Our team gathers information from business and community leaders to improve understanding of regional economic conditions and to inform discussions of monetary policy and longer-term regional prosperity.
• The department hosts signature conferences on inflation and financial stability that convene global experts to advance research and strengthen understanding of key policy issues.
• Our staff produce and maintain an array of indicators and datasets about economic conditions, with a special focus on inflation-related content.

Our Treasury Services Department supports the US Department of the Treasury’s objectives of expanding the use of digital products and payments services across the federal government. Our team provides services that focus on the revenue collection of fees, fines, and taxes for federal government agencies. These products and services enable people and organizations to conduct business securely and efficiently.

• We design, build, and maintain electronic payments systems as part of the US Department of the Treasury’s effort to expand payments services and other digital products across the federal government.
• We support pay.gov, a web portal for secure online payments to government agencies. In 2023, pay.gov processed more than 109 million transactions valued at more than $229 billion from electronic debits, credit and debit cards, digital wallets like PayPal and Amazon Pay, and other sources.
• We manage a central hub that processes electronic check and debit transactions, with annual volumes of more than 150 million transactions valued at over $753 billion.
• We are also responsible for the movement of government funds from commercial bank accounts to the US Treasury and for maintaining strategic business partnerships with commercial authorization and settlement providers to facilitate these transactions.

Banking Supervision, Credit Risk, and Statistics (also known as SCS) promotes a safe and sound banking system and supports financial market stability.

• Our banking supervision team supervises more than 260 commercial banks, savings and loan companies, and bank holding companies headquartered in the Fourth District to ensure soundness and compliance with laws and regulations, including those relating to consumer protection.
• Credit risk employees support liquidity of the banking system by providing access to funding, facilitating the implementation of monetary policy, and working to avoid losses that could undermine the integrity of payments systems or the credibility of the Federal Reserve System.
• Teams in Statistics and Analysis collect, analyze, and ensure the quality of financial and banking structure information in support of monetary policymaking and bank supervision.

The Community Development Department is focused on improving economic outcomes in low- and moderate-income communities. Ensuring that people in every community have opportunities to participate in the economy and prosper—including those who may face barriers related to income, race, ethnicity, gender, or geography—helps drive economic growth and supports the System’s mandate for maximum employment.

Our community development staff work on a wide variety of issues tailored to the economic needs of the region, particularly those related to economic and workforce development, housing, and small businesses.

• We gather data and insights from community members across our region and identifying emerging issues and trends through applied research, data analysis, and community outreach.
• We share findings in publications, webinars, meetings, and conferences, including our signature event, the biennial Policy Summit.
• We convene community and economic development practitioners to inform policy, decisionmaking, and program development.

Our Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Opportunity’s education outreach team works to enhance financial literacy and career readiness in our communities. Its objective is to provide education and training anchored in research to support the workforce of the future.

• We offer free financial literacy resources and career readiness programs.
• We collaborate with community stakeholders to provide individuals—from kindergarten to college—with tools to manage personal finances to successfully enter into the workforce.

Cash Services works to ensure that banks, credit unions, and other depository institutions in our region have sufficient supplies of banknotes and coins to meet public demand. We keep cash circulating throughout the economy by distributing it and monitoring its physical condition to ensure it's fit to remain in use. If the currency is not fit to use, we shred it.