1 / 24

lessons from (Dutch) payment history

Money and Trade considered. lessons from (Dutch) payment history. Simon Lelieveldt. Edinburgh, 23/24 June 2000. The Netherlands. Capital: Amsterdam Area: 34.000 square km Population of 16 million inhabitants Currency: Dutch guilder (NLG) GDP: 775 bln NLG

scoggins
Download Presentation

lessons from (Dutch) payment history

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Money and Trade considered....... lessons from (Dutch) payment history Simon Lelieveldt Edinburgh, 23/24 June 2000

  2. The Netherlands • Capital: Amsterdam • Area: 34.000 square km • Population of 16 million inhabitants • Currency: Dutch guilder (NLG) • GDP: 775 bln NLG • Inflation: 2 % • 170 banks and 7000 branches

  3. 1 - Payment techniques travel along with trade • From Italy to Belgium to Netherlands to UK • Concepts: • girosystem (deposit taking) • arithmetic coin • multilateral compensation • assignations, bills obligatory, prom. notes 1400 - 1800

  4. 2 - as did John Law: • From Scotland to England to Amsterdam to France to England to Italy • Concepts: • Bank notes (Land bank) • Circulation bank (France) & Mississipi System • (Bank of England & East India Company) 1671 - 1729

  5. 3 - The most efficient model is the centralised (giro) model . . • First build trust on 100 % convertability and 100 % reserve • Enlarge operations (build user base) and make more payments inhouse-payments • Lower reserve percentage in time and use excess funds (wisely) 1600 - 2000

  6. 4 - but religion/legal rules determine local specifics of instrument use • Typical general infrastructure models • giro-based, cheque-based, cash-based or hybrid (cheque/giro) • Due to: • prohibitions on charging interest (the Pope) • taxes or more direct government intervention • consumer / bank regulation (Reg E, Glass-Steagal) 1300 - 2000

  7. 5 - Kings and governments always want a piece of the action • Corn giro in Egypt • Privilege of minting coin • Amsterdam Exchange Bank (monopoly) • Central banks: • lending machine for government • profitable issuance of bank notes Always

  8. 6 - Country specific instruments only work with a fair deal of trust • Good legal system, trustworthy government and stable society are conditions for the use of currency and deposits • if not: use of other countries’ currency or more general goods, such as gold and silver • Reflected in indicator of cash as % of M1 Always

  9. Cash as % of M-1

  10. 7 - Security must be learnt - the Dutch banknotes • exclusive feature (1814 - 1850) • security by artistic engraving (1850 - 1900) • combination of technologies (1910-) • security before design (1921) • sufficient security is enough (1941) • integration and contingency plans (1960) 1814-2000

  11. 8 - Convertability into ‘real value’ is essential but not essential • Money itself is an abstraction and rational product of the mind, which for theoretic reasons does not need to have value itself or be redeemable somehow, • yet as a part of an evolution path to build confidence, some form of redeemability against ‘real value’ is necessary Simmel, 1900

  12. 9 - Accepted because confidence in ability to respend it • Concept of legal tender is irrelevant • Concept of instrument having a ‘real value’ (gold coin) is also irrelevant • Any object will function as money, given the user expectation that the instrument received can be spent again Frijda, 1916

  13. 10 - Any payment is in itself quite uninteresting to the user • Payments are endresult of something else • If that something else is important (or force is used), users will do anything which is needed in the payment domain • Don’t misunderstand the ‘cooperation’ of the user! 1915-2000

  14. 11 - The payment product is a hygiene factor • If it works no extra satisfaction; if it doesn’t users get annoyed • Users don’t repeatedly search for new payment mechanisms but stick to their choices • Users criteria are control, risk, ease of use and sometimes cost 1950-2000

  15. 12 - User risk depends on more than technical security • law: giro funds not part of assets in failure • cheque convention Geneva (1930s) • credit card liability in case of fraud higher when using PIN as well (100 FL vs 300 FL) • debit card liability limited by contract to 500 FL (200 $ more than Reg E equivalent) 1900 - 2000

  16. 13 - Operating a payment system can be very profitable • Official profitmakers (public records): • Amsterdam Municipal Giro • Postal Services Giro (now Postbank) • Unofficial profitmakers: • all other banks denying profit in payments • reap profit in treasury function and make costs in payment operations 1900 - 2000

  17. 14 - Respect existing deeply rooted traumas and successes • Amsterdam Exchange Bank and Municipal Giro • Cashiers notes against central bank • Postal services operations trauma 1923 • Central banks gold standard trauma 1930s 1600 - 2000

  18. 15 - Interoperability has never been a major problem for end-user • Large diversity gives rise to separate (commercial) enterprises, which make money out of reducing burden to end-users • Amsterdam’s cashiers and exchange offices, • Central bank, -Bankgiro system • CCV van der Velden (card payment integrator) • Bibit (Internet payment integrator) 1600 - 2000

  19. 16 - Reduce the number of messages in payment protocols • Cash - Giro - Cheque • ATM protocol can be done in three messages instead of four • Don’t use a logical but the 90 % standard transaction flow to speed up the process 1900 - 2000

  20. 17 - Don’t overvalue anonimity • Also with cash, anonimity is relative • disguised bank robbers still get caught • Positioning with anonimity gets more suspicious everyday • Swiss bank secret... 1900 - 2000

  21. 18 - Multifunctionality won’t work with more than 1 organisation • Don’t add college card, bus card and copy card on to one chip! • Multifunctionality within user domain might work • Shared chipcard use accross a number of organisations (or 2) creates complex organisational / legal issues Sipman, 1988

  22. 19 - Critical role for government and the large retailers • Large user base allows profitable investment in technology development • Government may additionally impose instruments through legislation or de facto market power 1900 - 2000

  23. 20- How to make new payment mechanisms work ? • Improve cost/benefit/burden ratio and grow from existing customer behaviour • Targeted at a small and specific user base and profitable on that scale • Enforce it as the only mechanism (campus solutions) • Make them part of overall irresistable deal 1900 - 2000

  24. Caveat “I have not had time to put my Thoughts in that Order they ought to have been, and am forc’t to leave out Anfwers I defign’d to have given to fome Objections I have heard made againft this Propofal.” John Law, 1705

More Related