Équilibre économique et tarification des moyens de paiement

Abstract

Economic equilibrium and pricing means of payment The management of bank money payments has become a full scale industry, handling more than ten billion transactions each year. Like all industry, it has become more capital intensive and more sensitive to new products, such as electronic payment. The competition for the management of means of payment and the related banking products and services has grown increasingly keen. This business is a loss-maker for banks in all countries, but especially in France. And it continues to be so, in spite of productivity gains and substantial increases in the charges for some services. This is because of the weak growth of sight deposits over the last ten years and the fall in nominal rates with the end of inflation. This article starts by pointing out that bank money payment instruments resemble both commercial and publicly-owned goods. It then presents the economic justification for interbank fees proposes seven principles for fair pricing. It then deals with the broader issues, setting the principles for a new balance in the management of means of payment. The current system, set up in the 1960s, gives rise to cross-subsidization on a wide scale and provides little incentive to improve services for different types of customers. It is increasingly out of step with today's economic realities.