As Senior Vice President of Treasury and Financial Services at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Jim Cunha leads the Bank's work on behalf of its cash operation, wholesale payments, and mobile and digital payments.

Cunha is spearheading the Boston Fed’s efforts to study, explore, and engage with distributed ledger technology, or blockchain, to determine applicability, potential benefits, and risks for internal and external uses. He is specifically focused on the evolution of the technology and its potential impact on the financial services sector.

Cunha is responsible for the Bank’s Stored Value Card program, which supports the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service and the financial management commands of four U.S. military branches. He is also a leader in the Federal Reserve’s work to improve the safety, security, and resiliency of the U.S. payments system.

Cunha has worked at the Boston Fed since 1984. Prior to that, he worked at Fleet National Bank. He holds a bachelor’s in accounting and philosophy from Northeastern University and a bachelor’s in computer science from Rhode Island College.

Cunha serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Justice Resource Institute, a social justice nonprofit; is an ex-officio member of the board of directors at New England ACH Association, a payments education nonprofit; and was the former chairman of the board of Children's Friend and Family Services of Salem, Mass.