Provide benefits to households, businesses, and the overall economy that exceed any costs and risks.

Yield such benefits more effectively than alternative methods.

Complement, rather than replace, current forms of money and methods for providing financial services.

Protect consumer privacy.

Protect against criminal activity.

Have broad support from key stakeholders.

Privacy-protected. There would be a need to strike a balance between privacy rights of consumers and the transparency necessary to deter criminal activity.

Intermediated. The Federal Reserve Act does not authorize direct Federal Reserve accounts for individuals, therefore:

Widely-transferable. For a CBDC to be a widely accessible means of payment, it would need to be easily transferable between customers of different intermediaries.

Identity-verified. A US CBDC would need to comply with rules that financial institutions in the US are subject to, which are designed to combat laundering and financing of terrorism. In practice, this would mean that a CBDC intermediary would need to verify the identity of a person accessing a CBDC, similar to the manner in which banks and other financial institutions currently verify the identities of their customers.

Safely meet future needs and demands for payment services. A US CBDC:

Improvements to cross border payments. A US CBDC could potentially streamline cross-border payments by using new technology, introducing simplified distribution channels, and creating additional opportunities for cross-jurisdictional collaboration and interoperability.

Support the international role of the US dollar. A US CBDC could preserve the dominant international role of the US dollar, if it were issued and became preferred in an atmosphere where foreign countries and currency unions have also introduced CBDCs.

Financial inclusion. For economically vulnerable households and communities, a US CBDC may provide more access to financial markets, which is a high priority for the FRB. For private-sector electronic transaction accounts, a US CBDC could promote financial inclusion by:

Extend public access to safe central bank money. Currently, cash is only the central bank currency available to the general public. The FRB is considering a CBDC as means to expand safe payment options.

Changes to financial market structure. The structure of the US financial system would essentially change with the introduction of a US CBDC, by altering the roles and responsibilities of the private sector and the central bank.

Safety and stability of the financial system. Because central bank money is the safest form of money, a widely accessible CBDC would be attractive to risk-averse users, especially during times of financial stress. Traditional measures such as prudential supervision, government deposit insurance, and access to central bank liquidity may be insufficient to prevent large outflows of commercial bank deposits into CBDC in the event of a financial panic.

Efficacy of monetary policy implementation. The design of a US CBDC would influence how it might affect monetary policy. The Federal Reserve currently works under an "ample reserves" monetary policy, under which the Federal Reserve exercises control over the federal funds rate and other short-term interest rates through the setting of administrative rates. The current policy does not require active management of supple of reserves. The introduction of a US CBDC could affect monetary policy implementation and interest rate control by altering the supply of reserves in the banking system.

Privacy and data protection and the prevention of financial crimes. Concerns in this area include:

Operational resilience and cybersecurity. The infrastructure for a US CBDC would need to be resilient against threats and vigilant against bad actors.