This chapter investigates the relationships between banks in different countries through an empirical study based on interviews with the six leading Nordic banks and the Swedish export credit agency. The authors find that although all six banks have significantly reduced the number of...

We survey the limited data that exists concerning the cost of making/receiving a payment by banks, retailers, and other parties to a transaction. Since an electronic payment costs between one-third and onehalf that of a paper-based instrument, a country may save 1% of its GDP annually as it...