Staff Reports
The Topology of Interbank Payment Flows
March 2006 Number 243
JEL classification: E59 , E58, G1

Authors: Kimmo Soramäki, Morten L. Bech, Jeffrey Arnold, Robert J. Glass, and Walter E. Beyeler

We explore the network topology of the interbank payments transferred between commercial banks over the Fedwire® Funds Service. We find that the network is compact despite low connectivity. The network includes a tightly connected core of money-center banks to which all other banks connect. The degree distribution is scale-free over a substantial range. We find that the properties of the network changed considerably in the immediate aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Available only in PDFPDF13 pages / 558 kb

For a published version of this report, see Kimmo Soramäki, Morten L. Bech, Jeffrey Arnold, RobertJ.Glass, and Walter E. Beyeler, "The Topology of Interbank Payment Flows," Physica A:
Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications
379, no. 1 (June 2007): 317-33.

tools
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Statement. You can learn more about how we use cookies by reviewing our Privacy Statement.   Close