Arbeitspapier

SEPA, efficiency, and payment card competition

This paper analyzes the welfare implications of creating a Single Euro Payments Area. We study the effects of increased network compatibility and payment scale economies on consumer and merchant card fees and its impact on card usage. In particular, we model competition among debit cards and between debit and credit cards. We show that competitive pressures dampen merchant fees and increase total card acceptance. The paper argues that there is room for multilateral interchange fee arrangements to achieve optimal consumer and merchant fees, taking safety, income uncertainty, default risk, merchant's pricing power, and the avoided cost of cash at the retailers side into account. Consumers and merchants are likely to benefit the most from the creation of SEPA when sufficient payment card competition alleviates potential monopolistic tendencies.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: ECB Working Paper ; No. 1140

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium: Financial Markets
Thema
card network competition
economic welfare
Optimal pricing
SEPA
Bargeldloser Zahlungsverkehr
Wohlfahrtsanalyse
EU-Staaten

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Bolt, Wilko
Schmiedel, Heiko
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
European Central Bank (ECB)
(wo)
Frankfurt a. M.
(wann)
2009

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:44 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Bolt, Wilko
  • Schmiedel, Heiko
  • European Central Bank (ECB)

Entstanden

  • 2009

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