The EPS as an e-commerce enabler: The Macedonian perspective

The payment system represents a sum of instruments, procedures and infrastructure for money transfer. It is of great importance for all economic agents since it enables fast and efficient payments in the national economy as well as internationally. Electronic payment system functionality is measured through analysis of the transactions committed, structure of the electronic instruments available within a country, and payment instruments used during payment of purchased or ordered products or services. The use of Electronic Payment Instruments in Macedonia is growing steadily, which shows that the EPS system in this country is continually growing and is in some extend well organized, people are friendly to ICT and conduct electronic transactions easily. E-banking activities in Macedonia started, but remain in low levels; which is a fact for e-commerce activities in general.e-commerce, Electronic Payment Systems, Electronic Payment Instruments

Nothing is free: a survey of the social cost of the main payment instruments in Hungary

The study applies two approaches for the estimation of the social costs of main payment instruments (cash, debit card and credit card transactions, credit transfers, direct debits, business-to-business direct debits, postal inpayment money orders, postal outpayment money orders for pensions) used in Hungary in 2009. The first approach is based on the current payment structure, while the second approach is based on a more modern, hypothetical payment structure involving less cash, with no use of paper-based methods. In the first approach, the social cost amounts to HUF 388 billion, i.e. 1.49% of the GDP, while in the second approach, such cost amounts to HUF 285 billion, i.e. 1.09% of the GDP. In this context, social cost means the use of all resources (time, materials and money) necessary for the execution of payments, calculated as a net value (i.e. exclusive of fees paid for payment services). Thus, HUF 103 billion could be saved in social costs if the use of payment instruments were to be modified.private cost, social cost, net private cost, unit cost, social savings, cash transactions, debit card transactions, credit card transactions, paper-based credit transfers, electronic credit transfers, direct debits, business-to-business direct debits, postal inpayment money orders, postal outpayment money orders for pensions

The Electronic Payment System as an e-commerce enabler: The Macedonian perspective

The payment system represents a sum of instruments, procedures and infrastructure for money transfer. It is of great importance for all economic agents since it enables fast and efficient payments in the national economy as well as internationally. Electronic payment system functionality is measured through analysis of the transactions committed, structure of the electronic instruments available within a country, and payment instruments used during payment of purchased or ordered products or services. The use of Electronic Payment Instruments in Macedonia is growing steadily, which shows that the EPS system in this country is continually growing and is in some extend well organized, people are friendly to ICT and conduct electronic transactions easily. E-banking activities in Macedonia started, but remain in low levels; which is a fact for e-commerce activities in general.e-commerce, Electronic Payment Systems, Electronic Payment Instruments

Why Do Shoppers Use Cash? Evidence from Shopping Diary Data

Recent studies find that cash remains a dominant payment choice for small-value transactions despite the prevalence of alternative methods of payment such as debit and credit cards. For policy makers an important question is whether consumers truly prefer using cash or merchants restrict card usage. Using unique shopping diary data, we estimate a payment choice model with individual unobserved heterogeneity (demandside factors) while controlling for merchants’ acceptance of cards (supply-side factors). Based on a policy simulation where we impose universal card acceptance among merchants, we find that overall cash usage would decrease by only 7.7 percentage points, implying that cash usage in small-value transactions is driven mainly by consumers’ preferences

Financial settlement modes and corruption: Evidence from developed nations

Using recent pooled data from several developed nations, the paper uniquely examines whether the composition of payment instruments has a bearing on the prevalence of corruption in a country. Our results suggest that the choice of instruments matters. Paper credit transfer transactions are consistently associated with corrupt activities, while credit card transactions tend to reduce them. Cheques generally increase corruption, the results with respect to nonpaper credit transfers are mixed, while direct debits fail to show significant effects on corruption. These findings hold for alternative corruption measures and when allowance is made for endogeneity of payment instruments.corruption; cheques; credit card; cash; direct debit; payment instruments

Payment card rewards programs and consumer payment choice

Card payments have been growing very rapidly. To continue the growth, payment card networks keep adding new merchants and card issuers try to stimulate their existing customers’ card usage by providing rewards. This paper seeks to analyze the effects of payment card rewards programs on consumer payment choice, by using consumer survey data. Specifically, we examine whether credit/debit reward receivers use credit/debit cards relatively more often than other consumers, if so how much more often, and which payment methods are replaced by reward card payments. Our results suggest that (i) consumers with credit card rewards use credit cards much more exclusively than those without credit card rewards; (ii) even among those who carry a credit card balance, consumers with credit card rewards use a credit card more often than those without rewards; (iii) among consumers who receive credit card rewards, those who receive credit card rewards as well as debit card rewards tend to use debit cards more often than those who receive credit card rewards only; and (iv) reward card transactions seem to replace not only paper-based transactions but also non-reward card transactions.

A dynamic model of the payment system

The authors study the design of efficient intertemporal payment arrangements when the ability of agents to perform certain welfare-improving transactions is subject to random and unobservable shocks. Efficiency is achieved via a payment system that assigns balances to participants, adjusts them based on the histories of transactions, and periodically resets them through settlement. Their analysis addresses two key issues in the design of actual payment systems. First, efficient use of information requires that agents participating in transactions that do not involve monitoring frictions subsidize those that are subject to such frictions. Second, the payment system should explore the trade-off between higher liquidity costs from settlement and the need to provide intertemporal incentives. In order to counter a higher exposure to default, an increase in settlement costs implies that the volume of transactions must decrease, but also that the frequency of settlement must increase. ; Also issued as Payment Cards Center Discussion Paper No. 07-14Payment systems