Digital money and digital payments innovations have the potential for improving cross-border payments by reducing costs, enhancing speed, and improving transparency. This note performs an empirical analysis of the potential impact of digital money on the volume and transaction costs of...

We provide an update on cryptoasset ownership in Canada using data from the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey conducted in late 2023. Bitcoin ownership remained stable at around 10% in 2023 and continues to be concentrated among men, younger individuals and those with higher income and levels of education....

Designing inclusive and user-friendly digital payment systems is crucial to eliminate barriers faced by users. This research focuses on fostering empathy for and identifying the needs of users who exhibit behaviours that indicate they encounter accessibility or usability barriers in digital...

Most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are implementing fast payment systems (FPS), often with the goal of enhancing access to and use of affordable financial services. FPS offer immediate transfer of funds on a 24x7 basis between end users. This paper assesses how FPS can promote...

Convenience and security are the two key attributes that consumers consider when choosing between payment technologies. We examine how consumers react to an exogenous change to the convenience and security of digital payments. We study an increase in the 'tap-and-go' limit for contactless...

The digitalisation of payments has accelerated over the last decades with the internet and ever faster and cheaper computing. Now, many believe that decentralised finance ("DeFi") offers fundamentally new possibilities for trading, payments and settlement. Moreover, for a few years central banks...

This paper examines the transition from exclusive card network-acquirer relationships to a multi-acquiring model. Using the case of Uruguay's adoption of multi-acquiring in 2022, as part of a broader financial inclusion program, we document significant market dynamics, including restructured...

This paper presents the findings derived from a comprehensive survey conducted by the Central Bank of Malta, in collaboration with the National Statistics Office, with the aim of analysing payment habits in Malta. The research explores individuals' perspectives on various aspects, including...

Monetary authorities globally have studied central bank digital currency (CBDC) for wholesale and retail applications since the 1990s. Besides countering private cryptocurrencies' influence, central banks have also explored other benefits of CBDC, such as improving their financial oversight,...

Inadequate financial literacy and overconfidence in financial knowledge, coupled with the use of mobile payments (MPs), may contribute to harmful financial behaviors. While the relationship between financial knowledge confidence and financial behaviors is well documented, there is limited...

The pros and cons of CBDCs have been examined in numerous writings but much less research has focused on specific economies or regions. This paper attempts to fill that gap for the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) economies. It first examines the views of central banks in the region toward...

We field a series of experiments in a population-representative survey of European consumers to examine their attitudes towards the possible introduction of a digital euro. First, we show that a short video explaining the key features of the digital euro is effective in changing consumers'...

Can digital payments help reduce extreme hunger? Humanitarian needs are at their highest since 1945, aid budgets are falling behind, and hunger is concentrating in fragile states where repression and aid diversion present major obstacles. In such contexts, partnering directly with governments is...

When paying with a payment instrument in fiat currency within the EU, the transaction is covered by the PSD2, which provides prudent protection for payers and their payment instruments. When the transaction is instead executed in bitcoin, an unbacked crypto-asset, the transaction is not covered...

Digital payments have increasingly been adopted by consumers and firms in Latin America and the Caribbean. This policy research paper analyzes recent post-pandemic data on digital payments in the region to describe adoption patterns, measure adoption gaps, and identify adoption barriers. The...

The objective of this study is to analyse the correlation between Bitcoin and altcoins in the post-covid world and take advantage of this possible relationship to design investment strategies on Bitcoin based on the evolution of altcoins using Artificial Intelligence (AI) models. The sample of...

Private and public agents' plans and actions to introduce digital currencies and other innovative payment instruments could produce some unintended consequences, including the potential disappearance of physical cash. This study employs a two-sided market model to examine how payment systems...

This paper examines the impact of banking digitalization in Spain, focusing on the consequences of branch closures and digital barriers for financial inclusion. Using panel data from the Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Households (2017-2021), a logit...

This study investigates the factors that affect the adoption of mobile payment systems in Oman, focusing specifically on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the expanding FinTech landscape. By utilizing secondary sources of data from the Central Bank of Oman and global FinTech...

The adoption of electronic payments has increased globally, driving economic growth by enabling smoother transactions. Digital payments enhance speed, security, trust, and efficiency, prompting governments to implement policies that promote financial inclusion through new payment technologies....

Over the past two decades, mobile money has evolved into a broader suite of Digital Financial Solutions (DFS) that have transformed the financial landscape of SubSaharan Africa. In Kenya, over 86 per cent of adults use mobile money for everyday transactions (FinAccess Household Survey 2024),...

We frame the wide spectrum of possible system architectures for an online retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) and identify a promising architecture well-suited for basic payments. We select OpenCBDC 2PC, a representative system design that fits this architecture and analyze it using a...