The Chinese government is building the largest public credit information database on earth. The Credit Registry Center of the People's Bank of China registers more than 600 million consumers of which 110 million have a credit relationship with a financial institution. The Center is a public...

In today's digital economy individuals need to constantly provide personal information for different purposes. The compensation for information disclosure occurs through various ways such as price reductions, product personalization, or the apparently free use of Internet services such as search...

Sub-Saharan Africa is seen as a model region in terms of high growth rates in mobile phone use. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimates that between 2000 and 2011 more than 500 million people in the region subscribed to mobile phone networks. According to the ITU, between 2005...

This report brings together in a single volume the excellent contributions presented at the high-level conference on “The Future of Retail Banking in Europe: Competition and Regulatory Challenges” held at CEPS on the 10th of June 2009. The conference was jointly organized by the European...

It is increasingly observable that competitors in different industries share customer data, which can be used for targeted pricing. We propose a modified Hotelling model with two-dimensional consumer heterogeneity to analyze the incentives for such sharing and its ensuing welfare effects. We...

Credit reporting systems are an important ingredient for financial markets. These systems are based upon the unique identification of borrowers, which is enabled if a compulsory national identification system exists in a country. We present evidence derived from difference-in-difference analyses...

It is increasingly observable that competitors in different industries share customer data, which can be used for targeted pricing. We propose a modified Hotelling model with two-dimensional consumer heterogeneity to analyze the incentives for such sharing and its ensuing welfare effects. We...

The Financial Action Task Force embraces financial inclusion as complementary to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, as it enhances transparency. This support is based on the premise that the increased use of formal financial services leads to a reduction of usage of informal...