Cost Studies in Portugal

Transcription

1 Cost Studies in Portugal Global Payments Week September 2016 Seminar Seminar name

2 Agenda 1. Cost studies: WHY? 2. Studies made in Portugal 3. Constraints and lessons learned 4. European approach 2 22 September 2016

3 1. COST STUDIES: WHY? Motivations. Policy makers and regulators To better understand costs and help to formulate recommendations/policies towards improving efficiency in the retail payments field; To obtain information on which features of payment instruments users find important and how they assess different means of payment on different characteristics; To complement generic payment statistics and bring a better knowledge of current market practices.. Banks and retailers To support the decision making process; To provide insight on how to reduce costs and achieve efficiency gains; To assess the impact of major operational and regulatory changes September 2016

4 1. COST STUDIES: WHY? Motivations. General public/households To increase awareness on payments issues, particularly concerning the costs of different payment instruments.. Press/media To feed an increasing interest in the payment landscape (e.g. payment habits in the country, the emergence of new means of payment, or costs associated with payments in relation with policy discussions on fair fee structures) September 2016

5 2. STUDIES MADE IN PORTUGAL Retail payment instruments in Portugal: costs and benefits Banking system costs and benefits 2005 data The social costs of retail payment instruments in Portugal Banking system costs and benefits Merchants costs and benefits 2009 data Study on the use of retail payment instruments in Portugal Banking system costs and benefits Merchants costs Consumers costs 2013 data 5 22 September 2016

6 3. CONSTRAINTS AND LESSONS LEARNED Payment Service Providers and Processors. Attracting stakeholders to take part in the study No major constraints in getting banks involved, through our Portuguese Commission for Payment Systems. Using an Activity Cost Based (ABC) methodology Allocation of costs registered in cost centres to activities >> Break down of costs into direct and indirect. Ensuring the consistent use of concepts and allocation practices Detailed definition of costs and activities >> Provide examples while giving freedom. Assessing data quality Tests for consistency, validity and dispersion >> Ask for additional information and data re-check Time elapsed between data collection and disclosing the results 6 22 September 2016

7 3. CONSTRAINTS AND LESSONS LEARNED Merchants. Attracting merchants to take part in the study Low response rate (below 30 per cent) >> Use national payments committees and merchants associations. Having long and complex questionnaires Short and clear questionnaires; user-friendly. Having difficulties in extrapolating to the universe Low response rate + lack of representativeness of the sample. Assessing data quality Cross-checking with other data sources 7 22 September 2016

8 3. CONSTRAINTS AND LESSONS LEARNED Consumers. Attracting consumers to take part in the study Outsourcing to a market research company is one viable solution. Using payment diaries and/or questionnaires Ideally both, but time/resource consuming >> outsourcing to a market research company is one viable solution. Designing the survey Need to recall consumers about their payments (e.g. consumers tend to underestimate direct debits). Assessing data quality Cross-checking with other data sources 8 22 September 2016

9 4. EUROPEAN APPROACH September 2012 The social and private costs of retail payment instruments - A European perspective Aim Enhance the general understanding of these costs, providing a comprehensive analysis and empirical evidence at the European level while helping policy makers, banks and retailers to promote a more efficient use of retail payment instruments Joint initiative Carried out by the ECB with the participation of 13 national central banks of the ESCB 9 22 September 2016

10 4. EUROPEAN APPROACH Drivers for success. 3 step approach (i) (ii) (iii) Defining a common methodology to ensure cross-country comparison Data collection within the same timeframe Discussing the results. Dedicated resources (ECB and NCBs). Expertise from previous cost studies at national level September 2016

11 4. EUROPEAN APPROACH Challenges. Time elapsed between data collection and disclosing the results. Resource consumption. Cross-country comparison due to different patterns of usage. Sharing the results with each other ( anonymity ). Disclosing the results publicly September 2016