Today, Norges Bank presents the 2015 Financial Infrastructure Report. The Report is a part of Norges Bank's work to promote financial stability and an efficient payment system in Norway.

The technical operation of the payment system has largely been outsourced, and many of the component systems use the same service provider. In the Report, Norges Bank points out that system owners must have sufficient resources and expertise to undertake effective control of outsourced operations. System owners must also have a real possibility of switching service provider.

Norwegian systems have made good progress towards compliance with international principles. Further measures are still necessary, including measures to strengthen crisis management in the event of system failure.

The use of international payment cards is increasing, and the cost of using these cards is largely covered by merchants and not cardholders.

"Customers are not being presented with the right prices when choosing a payment solution. As a result, an inexpensive solution, such as BankAxept, may be crowded out by more expensive solutions", says Nicolaisen.

Financial Infrastructure Report 2015 (In Norwegian, an English version will be published at a later time)

Developments in retail payment services 2014 (Norges Bank Memo 1/2015) (In Norwegian, an English version will be published at a later time)