The Swedish payment market in transformation
Date
23/11/2015
Björn Segendorf and Anna-Lena Wretman analyse the structural transformation of the Swedish payment market.
They note that payments are increasingly being made electronically and that cash usage is decreasing. The Internet, tablets and smart phones are changing households' purchasing patterns and payment requirements. The banks are also facing competition from new actors. Even if these developments are positive overall, some households, associations and companies perceive them as negative as they create problems for them. Tools for solving, or mitigating, these problems exist but the authors consider that what is needed is cooperation between the market participants and between the market and the government. The government's tasks include ensuring that there is a safety net for those users who risk finding themselves outside the payment market.
The article is included in this year's third issue of the Sveriges Riksbank Economic Review , which was published 20 November 2015.
Björn Segendorf and Anna-Lena Wretman
The authors work in the Financial Stability Department and the Cash and Payment Systems Department of the Riksbank.
