Digital payments and decentralized systems enable the creation of new financial products and services for users. One core challenge in digital payments is the need to protect users from fraud and abuse while retaining privacy in individual transactions. We propose a pseudonymous credential...

The use of bank notes in Canada for payments has declined consistently for some time, and similar trends are evident in other countries. This has led some observers to predict a cashless society in the future. This paper considers the implications of the abandonment of the use of cash in the...

This note uses industry data and a unique dataset of small and medium-sized merchants to provide insights into the acquirer-merchant market in Canada. Three main findings are presented. First, smaller merchants pay their acquirer more for every dollar of card payment than larger merchants....

This paper proposes a unique approach to simulate intraday transactions in the Canadian retail payments batch system. Such transactions are currently unobtainable. The simulation procedure, though demonstrated in the realm of payments systems, has tremendous potential for helping with...

Can Bitcoin remain tamper proof in the long run? We use block-level data from the Bitcoin blockchain to estimate the impact of congestion and the USD price on fee rates. The introduction and adoption of the Segwit protocol allows us to identify an aggregate demand curve for bitcoin transactions....

Our paper contributes to the discussion about the utility of stablecoins for retail payments through an objective, evidence-based approach that compares stablecoins with traditional retail payment methods. The paper also provides insights that could be useful in the design of central bank...

With the rapid digitization of financial transactions, central banks have given considerable focus in recent years to the research and development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). While CBDCs could offer several advantages, there are concerns about end-user privacy. Traditional...

Can securities be settled on a blockchain and, if so, what are the gains relative to existing settlement systems? We consider a blockchain that ensures delivery versus payment by linking transfers of assets with payments and operates using a proof-of-work protocol. The main benefit of a...