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on Payment Systems and Financial Technology |
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Issue of 2022‒04‒18
25 papers chosen by |
| By: | Max Fuchs (University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | Private cryptocurrencies allow for payments without the need for a financial institution. These institutions, the central bank and retail banks, may thus observe a decline in the demand for their payments systems, i.e. cash and deposits. Using the monetary search model of Lagos and Wright (2005), we show that the central bank is able to tilt the playing field until it wins. By introducing an interest-bearing central bank digital currency (CBDC), the central bank is able to provide a payment system which is superior to cryptocurrencies. Miners cannot match the CBDC rate and go bankrupt. Retail banks, on the other hand, face lower profits but survive in the equilibrium. In addition, it can be welfare-improving to kick out cryptocurrencies by an interest-bearing CBDC. |
| Keywords: | CBDC, cryptocurrencies, welfare analysis |
| JEL: | E41 E42 E51 E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:202210&r= |
| By: | Wai Weng Lo; Siamak Layeghy; Marius Portmann |
| Abstract: | Criminals have become increasingly experienced in using cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, for money laundering. The use of cryptocurrencies can hide criminal identities and transfer hundreds of millions of dollars of dirty funds through their criminal digital wallets. However, this is considered a paradox because cryptocurrencies are gold mines for open-source intelligence, allowing law enforcement agencies to have more power in conducting forensic analyses. This paper proposed Inspection-L, a graph neural network (GNN) framework based on self-supervised Deep Graph Infomax (DGI), with Random Forest (RF), to detect illicit transactions for Anti-Money laundering (AML). To the best of our knowledge, our proposal is the first of applying self-supervised GNNs to the problem of AML in Bitcoin. The proposed method has been evaluated on the Elliptic dataset and shows that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art in terms of key classification metrics, which demonstrates the potential of self-supervised GNN in cryptocurrency illicit transaction detection. |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2203.10465&r= |
| By: | Hull, Isaiah (Research Department, Central Bank of Sweden); Sattath, Or (Department of Computer Science) |
| Abstract: | The properties of money commonly referenced in the economics literature were originally identified by Jevons (1876) and Menger (1892) in the late 1800s and were intended to describe physical currencies, such as commodity money, metallic coins, and paper bills. In the digital era, many non-physical currencies have either entered circulation or are under development, including demand deposits, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), in-game currencies, and quantum money. These forms of money have novel properties that have not been studied extensively within the economics literature, but may be important determinants of the monetary equilibrium that emerges in forthcoming era of heightened currency competition. This paper makes the first exhaustive attempt to identify and define the properties of all physical and digital forms of money. It reviews both the economics and computer science literatures and categorizes properties within an expanded version of the original functions-and-properties framework of money that includes societal and regulatory objectives. |
| Keywords: | Money; CBDC; Digital Currencies; Quantum Money; Currency Competition |
| JEL: | E40 E42 E50 E51 |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0406&r= |
| By: | Pike, Susan; D’Agostino, Mollie; Flynn, Kailey |
| Abstract: | Transit agencies are looking for ways to save costs and improve transit rider experiences. One strategy to accomplish this is to replace legacy payment systems that accept cash and in-network agency-issued tickets or cards with fully digital open-loop payments systems, which accept all debit, credit, and mobile payments and are more readily interoperable between different transit agencies and shared mobility operators. This transition will not come without confronting a number of equity and logistical challenges to ensure all riders benefit from this transition. The state of California’s California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP) aims to help transit agencies make this digital payment transition. Researchers at UC Davis partnered with Cal-ITP to explore this question: how can California transit agencies modernize fare payment while ensuring transit systems are open and accessible to un-and underbanked riders? Researchers collected 200+ intercept surveys in the Davis-Sacramento-Woodland area of California to assess the potential for un-and underbanked passengers to use digital payment tools, such as contactless cards, and smartphone-based apps. This research finds that among unbanked riders who typically pay with cash, more than half of respondents would be open to paying with a prepaid debit card or a prepaid government-issued debit card, and about a third are open to paying with a mobile phone. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Business, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Public transportation, un-and underbanked, open payments, transit payments, transit equity, transit access |
| Date: | 2022–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt8hb738wd&r= |
| By: | Markéta MlÄ úchová (Department of Finance, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno, ZemÄ›dÄ›lská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | The paper focuses on platform business models as ubiquitous features of the digital economy whose economic importance is continuously increasing. Considering their varying definitions and diverse typology, this review of platform business models aims to discuss and evaluate the current heterogeneous literature. In line with fulfilling the aim of the paper, the following research question is addressed: ‘What are the main attributes of platform business models?’ Based on a vast literature review, the paper coins a unified definition and devises a novel typology, distinguishing four main types of platform business models: transaction, innovation, integrated and investment. Furthermore, the importance of both digital data and network effects as the main identified attributes is highlighted. Additionally, the paper devises a novel typology of network effects, amplifying users’ value-creating activities and interconnected relationships. The novel typology of network effects is distinguishing direct, indirect (cross-sided, cross-network or two-sided), data, positive and negative network effects. |
| Keywords: | Digital economy, business model, platform business model, digital data, network effects |
| JEL: | F23 L86 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:men:wpaper:80_2022&r= |
| By: | Alhonita Yatie (BSE - Bordeaux Sciences Economiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | As the first crisis faced by Crypto-assets, Covid-19 updated the debate about their safehaven properties. Our paper tries to analyze the safe-haven properties of Crypto-assets and Gold for European assets. We find that Gold has not been more efficient than Cryptoassets (Tether, Cardano and Dogecoin) as safe-haven during the market crash due to Covid-19 in March 2020. We also found that during the study period Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple were just diversifiers for the European indices. Finally, Tether, Cardano and Dogecoin showed hedging properties like Gold before and after the market crash. |
| Keywords: | Gold,Bitcoin,Safe-haven,Covid-19,Cryptoassets |
| Date: | 2022–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03579957&r= |
| By: | Heng Chen; Walter Engert; Kim Huynh; Daneal O’Habib; Joy Wu; Julia Zhu |
| Abstract: | We provide an update on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for cash and the use of methods of payment based on data from the Bank Note Distribution System and from consumer surveys conducted in April and August 2021. Our key findings are as follows: • Cash in circulation remained high throughout 2021, driven mainly by demand for large-denomination notes. • Canadians’ holdings of cash on hand in April (median $70) and August (median $80) were comparable to results seen in 2020. Other cash holdings reported by Canadians remained elevated, with a median value of $260 in August. • In August 2021, 62% of Canadians used cash for payments, and indicators of merchant acceptance of cash improved in both the April and August surveys. • A large majority of Canadians (around 80%) in 2021 continued reporting that they have no plans to go cashless in the next five years. |
| Keywords: | Bank notes; Central bank research; Coronavirus disease (COVID-19); Digital currencies and fintech; Econometric and statistical methods |
| JEL: | C C1 C12 C9 E E4 O O5 O54 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocadp:22-8&r= |
| By: | Pike, Susan C.; D'Agostino, Mollie C. |
| Abstract: | The more than 350 transit agencies in California currently offer a patchwork of payment options, including cash, contactless payments, and a multitude of agency-issued cards. This inconsistency across transit operators acts as a barrier to the use of public transit. The California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP) was established in 2018 to create an integrated, statewide payment system to make travel simpler and more cost-effective. Cal-ITP is pursuing open-loop payment systems, which offer a suite of digital payment options such as credit and debit cards, prepaid debit cards, app-based wallet systems, and peer- to-peer payment apps. However, questions remain about whether open-loop payment systems would accommodate all travelers, particularly those who are unbanked (i.e., do not have a bank account) or underbanked (i.e., have only a savings or checking account, but not both) and typically rely on cash. Researchers at the University of California, Davis partnered with Cal-ITP to study how transit fare payments could be modernized while remaining accessible to unbanked and underbanked riders. This policy brief summarizes the findings from that research and provides policy implications. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Public transportation, un-and underbanked, open payments, transit payments, transit equity, transit access |
| Date: | 2022–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt3g26c4jn&r= |
| By: | Mustafa Recep Bilici; Saygin Cevik |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of financial literacy level on cash holdings in Turkey. Utilizing the Methods of Payment Survey, which includes both financial literacy and cash-related data, we first investigate the fundamentals of financial literacy in Turkey. Based on the performance on financial literacy questions, we categorize respondents into three groups. Subsequently, we analyze how cash holding behavior differs among financial literacy groups. Our results reveal that financially literate respondents tend to hold less cash on hand and store more cash elsewhere. Moreover, card ownership increases through financial literacy and the change in payment behavior of financially literate respondents is more significant during Covid-19 pandemic. The results imply that promoting financial literacy may result in less cash usage at points of sale accompanied by the currency in circulation growth, due to the overwhelming effect of increased non-transactional demand following a positive change in financial literacy level. |
| Keywords: | Financial literacy, Money demand, Cash demand |
| JEL: | C50 E41 G53 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:wpaper:2203&r= |
| By: | Martin Waltz; Abhay Kumar Singh; Ostap Okhrin |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an important extension to Conditional Value-at-Risk (CoVaR), the popular systemic risk measure, and investigates its properties on the cryptocurrency market. The proposed Vulnerability-CoVaR (VCoVaR) is defined as the Value-at-Risk (VaR) of a financial system or institution, given that at least one other institution is equal or below its VaR. The VCoVaR relaxes normality assumptions and is estimated via copula. While important theoretical findings of the measure are detailed, the empirical study analyzes how different distressing events of the cryptocurrencies impact the risk level of each other. The results show that Litecoin displays the largest impact on Bitcoin and that each cryptocurrency is significantly affected if an event of joint distress among the remaining market participants occurs. The VCoVaR is shown to capture domino effects better than other CoVaR extensions. |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2203.10777&r= |
| By: | José Alves; João Quental Gonçalves |
| Abstract: | The present work offers a review on two divergent schools of thought regarding the subject of money and highlights why understanding it is important to grasp the workings and nature of the concept of money. We adopt a spontaneous order perspective on social institutions, considering money as one. Such framework allows for the construction of axioms from which we formulate our problem allowing us to ask how old forms of money such as Gold and Silver hold up in today’s world regarding their hedging properties. Moreover, we also do so for Bitcoin since we consider it an appropriate asset due to its specific characteristics and its (at the time of writing) more than 10-year life span. We resort to the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology in order to study our three assets in the context of the US dollar and the US Economy for two different time periods. We analyse price dynamics from 1980 to 2020 for gold and silver resorting to annual data. Regarding bitcoin we employ quarterly data from 2009 to 2020. We conclude that the theories that explain what money is, how it comes to be so and how certain types of “money assets” may serve both as an indirect hedge against inflation in the two interpretations of the word and as a “stock of value” have merits that might deserve further investigation. |
| Keywords: | Money; Inflation; Gold; Silver; Bitcoin |
| JEL: | B25 D46 E42 E51 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp02222022&r= |
| By: | POSADA SANCHEZ Monica (European Commission - JRC); POGORZELSKA Katarzyna (European Commission - JRC); VESPE Michele (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | Digital interactions are nowadays often steered and controlled by technical and legal conditions defined in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Understanding these modulating mechanisms can support policymakers to design actions to foster innovation, monitor data governance processes and ultimately steer the data value distribution.APIs are enablers of data sharing, data access, and control. They are foundational in creating and thriving digital environments such as Digital Platforms or the European Data Spaces. Moreover, APIs connect actors in digital environments. Systemic coordination of these connections is key to guarantee legal and technical stability for fair, trustworthy and competitive digital environments. Additionally, these interfaces dictate what data is accessible, how, by whom, and under which conditions. Understanding the value modulating mechanisms can assist decision making to steer the distribution of data-generated wealth. The control and monitoring of API’s usage and other operational metrics would be essential to understand data flows and steer data governance processes.From a data governance policy perspective, this brief highlights the role of APIs in the digital transformation framework. |
| Keywords: | data governance, digital transformation, API |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc128250&r= |
| By: | Bianchi, Daniele (School of Economics and Finance, Queen Mary University of London); Babiak, Mykola (Lancaster University Management School) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the performance of funds that specialise in cryptocurrency markets and contribute to a grow ing literature that aims to understand the value of digital assets as investments. The main empirical results support the idea that cryptocurrency funds generate significantly alphas compared to passive benchmarks or conventional risk factors. We compare the actual fund alphas against the simulated values from a panel semi-parametric bootstrap approach. The analysis shows that the extreme outperformance is unlikely to be explained by the luck of fund managers. However, the significance of the alphas becomes statistically weaker after considering the cross-sectional correlation in fund returns. |
| Keywords: | Cryptocurrency markets; Alternative investments; Fund management; Bootstrap methods |
| JEL: | C58 E44 G12 G17 |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0408&r= |
| By: | INOUE Hiroyasu; TODO Yasuyuki |
| Abstract: | This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected online consumption using data from a major online shopping platform in Japan. Our particular focus is the effect of two measures of the pandemic, i.e., the number of positive cases of COVID-19 and the declaration of states of emergency to mitigate the pandemic. We find that both measures promoted online consumption at the beginning of the pandemic, but their effect then faded in later periods. In addition, online consumption is found to have returned to normal after states of emergency ended, and the overall time trend in online consumption excluding the effects of the two measures was also stable during the first two years of the pandemic. These results suggest that the effect of the pandemic on online consumption is temporary and will not persist after the pandemic. |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:22018&r= |
| By: | Jacques Bughin; Nicolas van Zeebroeck |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/334771&r= |
| By: | Loy, Jens-Peter; Ren, Yanjun |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we develop a theory of food retail promotional strategy. We test the theory using online food retail prices. A python code is applied to retrieve information from the web page mytime.de. Mytime.de is an online grocery outlet that belongs to the Bünting Group, a food retailer in North-West Germany. The promotional sales on mytime.de show a complementary relationship between breadth and depth of sales, indicating that in order to attract consumers, stores raise both the number (breadth) and the depth of price promotions. |
| Keywords: | e-food retailing,promotional sales,Germany |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esconf:251552&r= |
| By: | Bertschek, Irene; Müller, David F. |
| Abstract: | We examine the link between Internet usage and political ignorance. We construct a novel Index as a direct measure of individuals' indifference with respect to political issues which determines the degree of individual political ignorance. Our econometric analysis is based on a rich data set consisting of six surveys of individuals covering the time period 2001 to 2014 and being representative for the German electorate. The empirical results show that in the earlier years of Internet diffusion there is a negative link between using the Internet and political ignorance. This link changes sign in later years of Internet diffusion. We discuss potential explanations of this observed change in the link such as information overload and the increase in heterogeneity of Internet users. |
| Keywords: | Internet,information cost,indifference index,political ignorance |
| JEL: | D80 O33 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:21106&r= |
| By: | Brittany Tabora; Alicia Harrington |
| Abstract: | In recent years, changes in technology and modes of communication have posed new challenges for studies that use surveys to collect data from study participants. Drawing on our experience, this brief highlights six considerations for using social media in research study outreach and tracking. |
| Keywords: | Healthy Marriage, Relationship Education, Research study, Social media, Data collection |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:23d016d1cb6a45e4a61cc2dfb8fbf34f&r= |
| By: | Ilaria Gianstefani; Luigi Longo; Massimo Riccaboni |
| Abstract: | The short squeeze of Gamestop (GME) has revealed to the world how retail investors pooling through social media can severely impact financial markets. In this paper, we devise an early warning signal to detect suspicious users' social network activity, which might affect the financial market stability. We apply our approach to the subreddit r/WallStreetBets, selecting two meme stocks (GME and AMC) and two non-meme stocks (AAPL and MSFT) as case studies. The alert system is structured in two stpng; the first one is based on extraordinary activity on the social network, while the second aims at identifying whether the movement seeks to coordinate the users to a bulk action. We run an event study analysis to see the reaction of the financial markets when the alert system catches social network turmoil. A regression analysis witnesses the discrepancy between the meme and non-meme stocks in how the social networks might affect the trend on the financial market. |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2203.13790&r= |
| By: | Sonia FILIPETTO; Ariela MICHA; Francisca PEREYRA; Cecilia POGGI; Martín TROMBETTA |
| Abstract: | The recent growth of the platform economy as a tool for labour exchanges has brought about concerns on the overall quality of jobs created. As labour platforms leave a digital trace, this paper assesses whether platforms can help to increase registered labour in contexts of extended informality as the one for Argentina, asking what does formalization via registration - if any - actually imply for workers and how do they perceive it. The article inspects three on-demand occupations in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area: private passengers’ transportation (Uber), domestic work (Zolvers) and home repair services (Home Solution). The main results show that platforms “formalization effect” is dependent on several factors: a platform’s business model, or the company’s interest and need to promote or encourage such process; the pre-existing occupational dynamics in terms of formalization; and general labour market conditions. In the context of an Argentine labour market harmed by a prolongued recession, most transitions to formality via the platform occur to previously unemployed workers who join them. |
| Keywords: | Argentine |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2022–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en13696&r= |
| By: | João Ferreira do Amaral |
| Abstract: | This paper develops concepts and theoretical models that can prove useful for the study of technological revolutions both from the point of view of economic growth theory and of economic history. The basic concepts are innovative capital, technological wave and technological revolution and a comparison is made with other concepts such as industrial revolution and social revolution in the Marxian sense. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; digital revolution; technological progress; innovation. |
| JEL: | E10 E11 E22 N10 O30 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp02202022&r= |
| By: | George Sullivan; Luke Burns |
| Abstract: | Whilst academic, commercial and policy literature on financial exclusion is extensive and wide-ranging, there have been very few attempts to quantify and measure localised financial exclusion anywhere in the world. This is a subject of growing importance in modern UK society with the withdrawal of cash infrastructure and a shift towards online banking. This research develops a composite indicator using a wide-range of input variables, including the locations of existing cash infrastructure, various demographic factors (such as income and housing tenure) and other freely available lifestyle data to identify areas at greatest risk of financial exclusion, thereby aiding organisations to develop intervention strategies to tackle the problem. The indicator illustrates that whilst there is no apparent correlation between financial exclusion and deprivation, pockets of extreme financial exclusion are generally found in deprived communities, and affluent, suburban areas tend to score consistently more favourably and consequently carry less risk. The attributing causes vary, from a lack of infrastructure, to low car availability, but income levels have a pronounced influence. Three policy proposals are put forward, including offering banking services at PayPoint outlets, and converting cash machines to cash recyclers, but improving digital adoption was found to be the most effective intervention, provided that it is implemented by community organisations. Policies purely targeting infrastructure provision or addressing social exclusion are unlikely to be effective, as community-based initiatives coupled with wider reforms to the financial system are needed. |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2202.05674&r= |
| By: | Cookson, J. Anthony; Niessner, Marina; Schiller, Christoph M. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of social media in informing corporate decision-making by studying the decision of firm management to withdraw an announced merger. A standard deviation decline in abnormal social media sentiment following a merger announcement predicts a 0.73 percentage point increase in the likelihood of merger withdrawal (18.9% of the baseline rate). The informativeness of social media for merger withdrawals is not explained by abnormal price reactions or news sentiment, and in fact, it is stronger when these other signals disagree. Consistent with learning from external information, we find that the social media signal is most informative for complex mergers in which analyst conference calls take a negative tone, driven by the Q&A portion of the call. Overall, these findings imply that social media is not a sideshow, but an important aspect of firm information environment. |
| Date: | 2022–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:56yrj&r= |
| By: | Péter Csóka (Department of Finance, Corvinus University of Budapest and Centre for Economic and Regional Studies); P. Jean-Jacques Herings (Department of Econometrics and Operations Research, Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | We consider financial networks where agents are linked to each other with financial contracts. A centralized clearing mechanism collects the initial endowments, the liabilities and the division rules of the agents and determines the payments to be made. A division rule specifies how the assets of the agents should be rationed, the four most common ones being the proportional, the priority, the constrained equal awards, and the constrained equal losses division rules. Since payments made depend on payments received, we are looking for solutions to a system of equations. The set of solutions is known to have a lattice structure, leading to the existence of a least and a greatest clearing payment matrix. Previous research has shown how decentralized clearing selects the least clearing payment matrix. We present a centralized approach towards clearing in order to select the greatest clearing payment matrix. To do so, we formulate the determination of the greatest clearing payment matrix as a programming problem. When agents use proportional division rules, this programming problem corresponds to a linear programming problem. We show that for the other common division rules, it can be written as an integer linear programming problem. |
| Keywords: | Financial networks, systemic risk, bankruptcy rules, clearing, integer linear programming |
| JEL: | C71 G10 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:2208&r= |
| By: | Francisca PEREYRA; Lorena POBLETE |
| Abstract: | The quarantine imposed in March 2020 shed light on the essential labour performed by digital delivery platforms’ workers and their precarious labour conditions. In order to protect them, seven draft bills were proposed to Congress in Argentina, oscillating between a salaried/independent classifi-cation of these workers. This article uses qualitative and quantitative data to analyse how these regulatory proposals deal with three dimensions that are at the center of workers’ own concerns when it comes to the regulation of the activity: the preservation of flexible schedules, the continuity of income self-regulation – even though this often means overworking – and the need to access effectively social protection – where the absence of occupational hazards insu-rance stands out. |
| Keywords: | Argentine |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2022–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en13701&r= |