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The Cost of Consumer Payments in Sweden

Author

Listed:
  • Segendorf, Björn

    (Financial Stability Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

  • Jansson, Thomas

    (Financial Stability Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

Abstract

We estimate the social and private costs of consumer-to-business payments in Sweden in 2009. The combined social cost for these payments was 0.68 per cent of GDP. At the point of sale, cash is socially less costly than debit cards for payments below EUR 1.88 (SEK 20) and credit cards below EUR 42.37 (SEK 450). The corresponding thresholds for the individual consumer are higher for debit cards and much lower for credit cards. Using unique survey data we show that consumers’ payment behaviour is not consistent with what is socially optimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Segendorf, Björn & Jansson, Thomas, 2012. "The Cost of Consumer Payments in Sweden," Working Paper Series 262, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0262
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    File URL: http://www.riksbank.se/Documents/Rapporter/Working_papers/2012/rap_wp262_120619.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Garcia-Swartz Daniel D. & Hahn Robert W. & Layne-Farrar Anne, 2006. "The Move Toward a Cashless Society: A Closer Look at Payment Instrument Economics," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-24, June.
    2. 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.
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    4. Humphrey, David & Willesson, Magnus & Bergendahl, Goran & Lindblom, Ted, 2006. "Benefits from a changing payment technology in European banking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1631-1652, June.
    5. Garcia-Swartz Daniel D. & Hahn Robert W. & Layne-Farrar Anne, 2006. "The Move Toward a Cashless Society: Calculating the Costs and Benefits," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-30, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Carin van der Cruijsen & Joris Knoben, 2018. "Ctrl+C Ctrl+pay: Do people mirror payment behaviour of their peers?," DNB Working Papers 611, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    2. Carin van der Cruijsen & Frank van der Horst, 2016. "Payment behaviour: the role of socio-psychological factors," DNB Working Papers 532, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    3. Carin Cruijsen & Frank Horst, 2019. "Cash or Card? Unravelling the Role of Socio-Psychological Factors," De Economist, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 145-175, June.
    4. Nicole Jonker & Mirjam Plooij & Johan Verburg, 2015. "Does a public campaign influence debit card usage? Evidence from the Netherlands," DNB Working Papers 470, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    5. 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.
    6. Huynh, Kim P. & Schmidt-Dengler, Philipp & Stix, Helmut, 2014. "Whenever and Wherever: The Role of Card Acceptance in the Transaction Demand for Money," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 472, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    7. Kim Huynh & Philipp Schmidt-Dengler & Helmut Stix, 2014. "The Role of Card Acceptance in the Transaction Demand for Money," Staff Working Papers 14-44, Bank of Canada.
    8. Yulia Titova & Delia Cornea & Sébastien Lemeunier, 2021. "What Factors Keep Cash Alive in the European Union?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 291-317, August.
    9. Carin van der Cruijsen & Mirjam Plooij, 2015. "Changing payment patterns at point-of-sale: their drivers," DNB Working Papers 471, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    10. Carin van der Cruijsen & Lola Hernandez & Nicole Jonker, 2017. "In love with the debit card but still married to cash," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(30), pages 2989-3004, June.
    11. Nicole Jonker & Mirjam Plooij & Johan Verburg, 2017. "Did a Public Campaign Influence Debit Card Usage? Evidence from the Netherlands," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 89-121, October.
    12. Leon, Jorge & Rodríguez, Adolfo, 2012. "Costos de Transacciones en Costa Rica [Costs of transactions in Costa Rica]," MPRA Paper 45279, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2012.
    13. Geneviève Vallée, 2018. "How Long Does It Take You to Pay? A Duration Study of Canadian Retail Transaction Payment Times," Staff Working Papers 18-46, Bank of Canada.
    14. Nicole Jonker, 2013. "Social costs of POS payments in the Netherlands 2002-2012: Efficiency gains from increased debit card usage," DNB Occasional Studies 1102, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    15. Philip Hans Franses & Max Welz, 2019. "Cash Use of the Taiwan Dollar: Is It Efficient? †," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-6, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cash payments; Card payments; Credit transfers; Direct debits; Social costs; Private costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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