Norges Bank

Staff Memo

Costs in the Norwegian payment system

Forfatter:
Olaf Gresvik and Harald Haare
Serie:
Staff Memo
Nummer:
4/2009

Abstract

We calculate social and private cost for the use and production of payment services in Norway for 2007. The calculations include banks’, merchants’ and households’ cost for cash, cards and giro payments. The social cost is calculated to be 0.49 % of GDP, or NOK 11.16 billion. Costs are also calculated on a per-service basis. The results are compared with data from earlier cost surveys by Norges Bank. The unit costs of the most popular services have decreased over the years. Efficiency and productivity of banks’ payment service operations has improved. We also make comparisons between frameworks, methodologies, and results from cost surveys in five European countries.

Staff Memo inneholder utredninger og dokumentasjon skrevet av Norges Banks ansatte og andre forfattere tilknyttet Norges Bank. Synspunkter og konklusjoner i arbeidene er ikke nødvendigvis representative for Norges Bank.

ISSN 1504-2596 (online)

Publisert 14. mai 2009 10:10
Publisert 14. mai 2009 10:10