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Do Prices Reflect Costs? A study of the price- and cost structure of retail payment services in the Swedish banking sector 2002

Author

Listed:
  • Guibourg, Gabriela

    (Financial Stability Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

  • Segendorf, Björn

    (Financial Stability Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

Abstract

We estimate private costs in the Swedish banking sector for the production of payment services and investigate to what extent the price structure reflects the estimated cost structure. We find that (i) banks tend to use two-part tariffs but (ii) variable costs are poorly reflected in transaction fees towards both consumers and corporate customers. (iii) there exist large cross subsidies between different payment services, foremost from acquiring card payments to cash distribution to the public, while payment services as a whole is not subsidized.

Suggested Citation

  • Guibourg, Gabriela & Segendorf, Björn, 2004. "Do Prices Reflect Costs? A study of the price- and cost structure of retail payment services in the Swedish banking sector 2002," Working Paper Series 172, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0172
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    File URL: http://www.riksbank.com/upload/WorkingPapers/WP_172.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Humphrey, David B & Kim, Moshe & Vale, Bent, 2001. "Realizing the Gains from Electronic Payments: Costs, Pricing, and Payment Choice," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(2), pages 216-234, May.
    2. Jean-Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2003. "Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(4), pages 990-1029, June.
    3. Julian Wright, 2004. "The Determinants of Optimal Interchange Fees in Payment Systems," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 1-26, March.
    4. Kirstin E. Wells, 1996. "Are checks overused?," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 20(Fall), pages 2-12.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stijn Ferrari & Frank Verboven & Hans Degryse, 2010. "Investment and Usage of New Technologies: Evidence from a Shared ATM Network," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(3), pages 1046-1079, June.
    2. Carlos A. Arango-Arango & Yanneth R. Batancourt-García & Manuela restrepo-Bernal, 2022. "Costos del comercio en el procesamiento de los pagos en Colombia," Coyuntura Económica, Fedesarrollo, vol. 52, pages 107-125, December.
    3. Göran Bergendahl & Ted Lindblom, 2007. "Pricing of Payment Services: A Comparative Analysis of Paper-based Banking and Electronic Banking," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 687-707, September.
    4. Snellman, Heli, 2006. "Automated teller machine network market structure and cash usage," Bank of Finland Scientific Monographs, Bank of Finland, volume 0, number sm2006_038, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    retail payments; two-part tariffs; private costs; price structure; economies of scale;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • L89 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Other

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