Trends and Developments in Retail Payments

The Australian Payment Control Authority predicts that in Australia the trend is:

• a movement away from cash towards electronic non-cash payments;
• a growth in payments made by cards;
• a greater use of direct debit transfers; and
• a greater dependence on technology to support real time transactions and Internet payments.

Factors predicted to have contributed to the changes in retail payment methods are:

• Growth and advancements in Information Technologies;
• Competition and cooperation between providers of retail payment services;
• Globalisation of payment services offered by individual institutions in international retail payment networks;
• Risk preferences of both payers and payees for specific instruments and services;
• Cost and convenience of various instruments to users;
• Acceptance and availability of alternative payment instruments;
• An increased application of the Internet for the sale of goods and services; and
• Introduction of e-payment services such as e-banking.

Economic factors such as costs, monetary convertibility, customer base, peer to peer payment ability, anonymity, privacy, convenience and merchant acceptance influence the application, acceptance and innovations in payment systems.

Continuation of Currency as a Retail Payment Instrument

The continuing role of cash in retail payments may be attributed to the absence of credit risk, the anonymity associated with many of these transactions, and its immediacy and finality in transactions. Yet another contributing factor is legislation imposing an obligation to accept legal tender as payment.
The existence and growth of ATM networks is a contributor to lower costs and greater convenience in obtaining cash, as well as lower costs of supplying cash at traditional banking locations. ATMs now offer varied services and belong to a proprietary network offering a broader range of financial services other than just cash withdrawals. However, cash withdrawn from ATMs are an important retail payment instrument.

Information Technology and the Shift to Electronic NonCash Payment Instruments

Technology and its applications to payment services have facilitated innovation in retail payment instruments and services. With developments and applications of IT in the retail market there has been a movement away from cash and cheques towards direct funds transfers and card payments. While technological applications may create new payment instruments and services, it is the demand from a body of users, stimulating competition among providers that drives the development of markets. As users embrace new payment technology and instruments, other users become attracted. This has been particularly evident in credit and debit cards. Existing cardholders benefit from the participation of new merchants, since they can use the card more broadly for transactions, attracting new cardholders to the system. Merchants benefit from the participation of new cardholders, since sales increase, encouraging more merchants into the payment card network, especially if devices required by different networks are interoperable. These "network economies" are often cited as critical to the success of new payment technology (Plouffe et al., 2001).

Increase in Card Payments and Direct Debit Transfers

Card payment growth is attributed to several factors, which include the substitution of cards for both cheques and cash at the point of sale and purchases from catalogues, telephone and on-line shopping opportunities, where cards are the primary payment instrument. Since 1990 Australia experienced a decline in the relative use of cheques for non-cash transactions. The growth of card payments in all countries also reflects the development of network payment technology. New network arrangements have enabled providers to share the initial costs of payment card infrastructures and have given them a platform for developing new procedures and instruments. Credit and debit cards today capture a significant share of all retail transactions due to their convenience and the role they play in on-line transactions.

The growth of direct debit transfers indicates the rising awareness by users and providers of their convenience and relatively low cost. For payers, the convenience and attraction of direct debit transfers for recurring payments has been enhanced with the introduction of overdraft lines on deposit accounts. Direct debit transfers are convenient and useful for vendors since they provide greater control over the timing of cash inflows. The cost to service providers of processing recurring payments using direct debit transfers is sometimes lower than for other debit instruments, such as cheques. It is anticipated that in the future these will have a more important role, with the ability to support peer-to-peer payments as well.
There has been an increase in payments by EFTPOS and credit cards, and a decrease in cheque payments in Australia, based on the Australian Payment Control Authority.