Earlier I have argued in favour of explicit cost-based pricing of payment instruments. This article analyses new cost estimates for the Netherlands, and provides an overview of positions recently taken by important actors such as central banks and the European Commission. The new cost estimates...

These last few months the move toward the standardization of electronic purses has gained considerable momentum. Card issuers and newspapers present this move as crucial for cross-border transactions and especially urgent for the euro-zone. Starting from the network externalities theory, I argue...

The payments market is a dynamic market. Novel (electronic) payment instruments are launched at a fast clip, while others disappear after only a short lifetime. Unfortunately, a classification that adequately distinguishes all possible payment instruments by their most relevant characteristics...