The European Central Bank (ECB) carried out a study of the social and private costs of different payment instruments with the participation of 13 national central banks in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It shows that the costs to society of providing retail payment services are...

This paper examines the fundamental relationship between retail payments and the real economy. Using data from across 27 European markets over the period 1995-2009, the results confirm that migration to efficient electronic retail payments stimulates the overall economy, consumption and trade....

Financial integration in some segments of the financial markets started to deteriorate during the recent period of economic turmoil in Europe. This paper examines whether this phenomenon also holds true for the European retail payments market. In comparison with other segments of the financial...

The present paper explores issues surrounding multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) in payment card markets from various angles. The Eurosystem’s public stance on interchange fees is neutral. However, the Eurosystem takes a keen interest in facilitating a constructive dialogue among the...

Financial integration in some segments of the financial markets started to deteriorate during the recent period of economic turmoil in Europe. This paper examines whether this phenomenon also holds true for the European retail payments market. In comparison with other segments of the financial...

This paper examines progressive changes in productivity of the European stock exchange industry using non-parametric frontier techniques. Within the framework of Malmquist indices, total factor productivity growth is decomposed into technological progress and technical efficiency change for a...

We estimate convergence in the European retail payments market during the period 1995–2011 for the most popular retail payment instruments: cash, debit card, credit card, direct debit, credit transfer, cheque and e-money. To estimate convergence, we employ the concepts of beta and sigma...

This paper analyzes equilibrium pricing of payment cards and welfare consequences of payment card competition. In particular, we model competition between debit and credit cards. The paper argues that optimal consumer and merchant fees must take safety, income uncertainty, default risk, and the...

The stock market globalization process has produced historic changes in the structure of stock markets, the effects of which are evident throughout the world. Despite these transformations, there are relatively few sources examining the connections between the globalization process currently...