Electronic Payment Systems, Electronic
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SCHWERPUNKTTHEMA Electronic Payment Systems, tronically, remain the exclusive domain of an Electronic Money and the Inter- electronic network that has been specifically designed for handling high value payments. net: The United Kingdom Expe- This paper is divided into six separate parts rience to Date including the Introduction. In the second sec- tion, I will examine some of the key elements associated with a modern payment system. by Andreas Credé, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Each payment system must satisfy certain minimum requirements in order to be able to operate successfully. The key issues include a The level of Internet access in the UK is ex- stable legal framework, agreed procedures for panding rapidly. Although the volume of settlement and clearing of payments as well as business being transacted using the Inter- net is currently insignificant in relation to measures that ensure payment messages are the overall UK economy, there is a general secure and that fraud is minimized. expectation that it will grow exponentially The paper then goes on to provide an over- over the next ten years. The future vision is view of the UK payment system and how it is of increasing volumes of business trans- divided into distinct and separate elements. The acted on the Internet using electronic meth- section highlights the sharp contrast between a ods of payment and eventually electronic same day electronic payment system that exists money in the form of electronic-cash. This largely to service the financial sector and the article reviews some of these developments other types of payment system. It identifies the in the overall context of the UK payment dominant role of cash as a payment medium system.1 It considers the current structure and examines some of the broader issues of and the other different types of payment system technological innovation that will need to be which service business and consumer require- considered before this future vision be- ments. comes more of a reality. The fourth section looks at the ways in which the payment sector is actually used by different segments, specifically the financial, business, personal and public sectors. This 1. Introduction leads directly to a discussion of the existing Electronic payment systems and in particular, alternative methods for making payments over methods of payment being developed to support the Internet and some of the implications in- Internet based commerce cannot be examined in volved in choosing between different alterna- isolation. A failure to place these developments tives. The section includes a discussion of some into proper context is likely to result in undue of the institutional barriers that are likely to focus on the various experimental initiatives to exist when trying to adopt new payment meth- develop electronic forms of payment without a ods that do not immediately resonate with ex- proper reflection on the broader implications for isting business practice. the existing payment systems. The reality of the The fifth section considers various current current UK payment system is that it is primar- initiatives in developing Internet based payment ily paper based with more than 80 % of all in- systems. The section discusses the viability of dividual payment transactions taking the form current electronic cash initiatives as well as the of cash payments, cheques or other paper cred- development of smart card technology for small its. The majority of individual payment trans- payments. Existing industry initiatives to de- actions involve goods and services being ex- velop common smart card formats are also ad- changed for cash that are made face to face, i.e. dressed. The final section of the paper develops both buyer and seller are physically present. some conclusion from the discussion. Furthermore, a high percentage of individual non-cash payments continue to involve the ex- 2. Key Elements of the Payment System change of paper in some form. Electronic pay- ments in their purest form, where the instruc- Payment systems are central to the efficient tions to pay are generated and received elec- operation of the economy since they determine TA-Datenbank-Nachrichten, Nr. 2, 7. Jg., Juni 1998 Seite 29 SCHWERPUNKTTHEMA how quickly and how securely a seller of goods cheque which will not be accepted by the and services will receive payment. The associ- buyer's bank). Ideally, a seller prefers to be ated transaction costs will play a key role in protected against the risk that goods or services which payment system is selected from the released to the buyer will not ultimately be paid range of alternatives on offer. for. This is why credit cards offer a very effec- There are two basic types of exchange tive payment mechanism for Internet com- mechanism. Payments can be made in cash (i.e. merce. notes and/or coin) or they can involve the trans- The structure of a particular legal system fer of funds held with a bank. A third possibil- and the broader system of governance of which ity also applies (but is not taken into account it forms a part, will have important implications here), namely barter, where only goods are for how a payment system will operate on a day exchanged without any financial payment. to day basis. A payment system that has a Non cash payments require three separate strong statutory basis will depend on rules and elements. The buyer must have an agreed regulations previously defined in detail having means of payment authorisation and instructing the force of national law. The Central Bank will its bank to effect a transfer of funds. The seller's often have the power to change or amend regu- bank and the buyer's bank need an agreed lations with full statutory backing. Such a sys- method of exchanging payment instructions. tem is likely to offer the necessary transparency This is referred to as payment clearing. Finally in its normal operation but may encounter the buyer's bank and the seller's bank must have problems of definition and liability when there an authorised method of payment settlement. are unforeseen problems or if new develop- Payment settlement can be done in a number of ments take place. Alternatively, the legal ways. It can involve adjusting accounts which framework can be contractually based. Instead the two banks have with each other, or it can be of depending on statute, the rules and regula- achieved through accounts each bank holds tions governing the operation of the payment with a third-party, often a Central Bank. It is system is based on a series of contracts. These important to distinguish between these three may be explicit and in written form, or the con- key elements when considering electronic pay- tracts may be implicit, based on legal precedent. ments using the Internet. Payment authorisation In the UK, the legal framework for payment and payment clearing essentially involve ex- systems is principally contract based although changing messages. The Internet is ideally in key areas, legal statutes have been enacted. suited to perform this role, providing there can As new methods of electronic payment using be sufficient security safeguards incorporated. the Internet are developed, the legal framework However, payment settlement is a separate pro- needs to be amended and adapted to fit the new cess which must be linked to existing payment circumstances. Both a statute based or contract mechanisms and which will have much broader based legal framework have certain advantages implications for financial stability and wider and disadvantages in this respect. A contract monetary policy. based systems can be more adaptable in its de- A payment system can only function suc- tailed application. However, a statute based cessfully when it operates within a secure legal system will be more effective at introducing environment. It can only function properly if step changes in the payment system, for exam- there are clearly defined rights and obligations ple when introducing the new Euro currency. governing the actions of the various parties In each of the major developed economies which are involved. A buyer giving payment there is a need to settle very large payment authorisation details must be secure in the amounts resulting from financial transactions. knowledge that this information will not be All of the major industrial countries have de- misused, that it will be acted upon promptly and veloped separate, same-day electronic payment that there will be adequate compensation if systems for handling these large payments. operational mistakes are made. Similarly, a They consist principally of foreign exchange seller has to be secure that there will be suffi- transactions, debt service on large loans (i.e. cient penalties attached to any fraudulent issu- payments of principal and interest) and the sale ance of payment authorisation (e.g. writing a and purchase of bonds or company shares. The Seite 30 TA-Datenbank-Nachrichten, Nr. 2, 7. Jg., Juni 1998 SCHWERPUNKTTHEMA need to make the corresponding payments re- payment which are discussed in greater detail sults in a diametrically opposed relationship below. between payment volume and the number of When considered in terms of the number payments. Electronic same day payments will of individual transactions, the UK payments typically account for over 90 % of payment system remains dominated by small cash pay- monetary value but will represent only a small ments consisting of notes and coins. In total, fraction of the total payment transactions car- cash represented 74 % of all payments ried out on any particular day. This is particu- amounting to an estimated 25.5 billion individ- larly true for the UK where the payment system ual transactions. The dominance of cash as a has to accommodate the large value payments payment medium also occurs in other major generated by financial institutions operating in industrial economies.