The European Central Bank defines virtual currencies as ”unregulated, digital money, which is issued and usually controlled by its developers, and used and accepted among the members of a specific virtual community.” (European Central Bank, 2012, p. 5) The interest in virtual currencies has increased immensely over the last few years as they become increasingly prevalent in our society across many different industries. Up until now, the field of virtual currencies has been mainly uncharted land and despite interest in specific currencies, few attempts have been made at understanding or structuring the entire landscape The main research question in this thesis is related to the previously mentioned dilemma: understanding and structuring the virtual currency ecosystem, today and in the future. How can the virtual currency landscape currently be analyzed in a structured manner and what framework can be used to reflect and make predictions on the future development? The thesis is based on four different sources of information: a literature study of existing material, corporate interviews with companies dealing with virtual currencies and consumer interviews with potential early adopters, an online survey and a case study performed at Ericsson M-Commerce. The case study of Ericsson M-Commerce has provided valuable insight into understanding how companies reason when considering adopting virtual currencies into their product portfolio and greatly helped the process of structuring the virtual currency market in a comprehensive manner. In return, the thesis has also provided decision material for the department concerning virtual currencies. This thesis divides virtual currencies into five groups: Prepaid Value, Loyalty Points, Monetization Currencies, Gaming Currencies and Value Encoded Currencies. This model has been developed as a framework for the analysis of the current situation in this thesis. However, the analysis in the thesis has shown that as virtual currencies evolve, it will probably become more relevant to instead consider their functions. It is likely that virtual currencies will consolidate into three distinct functional types: virtual currency as a unit of account, virtual currency as a business model for monetization, and virtual currencies as a product that can be sold. As virtual currencies evolve, the future is not only filled with many challenges, but also many new opportunities. In this thesis, an attempt to gain an abstract understanding of how the field is developing has been made, but it remains to be seen what the real impacts of virtual currencies will be as they continue to gain traction.

In the first part, the background of electronic money is explained, then it provides a detailed account of how it has evolved in Africa, where there has been a huge success, given the advantages and applications it has, and how it has been working. Elsewhere, other models of electronic money that are emerging in the world, such as Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and experiences in Peru as Wanda and Your Mobile Money.In the third part, some aspects of the recent regulation of electronic money in Peru are required by Act No. 29985, which regulates the basic characteristics of electronic money. Finally, it details the recent proposal that ASBANC has been working on through the Model Peru, as well as technological and regulatory risks that still must be faced. / En una primera parte se explica los antecedentes del dinero electrónico, luego se pasa a exponer detalladamente de cómo éste se ha desarrollado en África, donde ha tenido un enorme éxito dadas las ventajas y aplicaciones que tiene, y la manera como viene funcionando. En otra parte se señalan otros modelos de dinero electrónico que vienen surgiendo en el mundo, tales como Google Wallet, Apple Pay, y experiencias en Perú como el de Wanda y Tu Dinero Móvil.En la tercera parte se precisan algunos aspectos de la reciente regulación del dinero electrónico en el Perú, mediante la Ley Nº 29985, que regula las características básicas del Dinero Electrónico. Finalmente se detalla la reciente propuesta que viene trabajando ASBANC, a través del Modelo Perú, así como los riesgos tecnológicos y regulatorios que aún se debe afrontar.

支付系統是經濟體系中經濟金融交易的基礎，隨著電子資金移轉技術的成熟，以及消費者消費習慣之改變，在可預見的未來，電子貨幣將代領人類邁入無現金的社會。由於電子支付系統的快速發展，若未針對相關制度事先做好配套措施，可能危及整體支付系統及金融體系的穩定。本文建議應仿效歐盟之方式，採事先管制之方式，在電子貨幣的發展初期，即擬定完善管理架構，以期在促進經濟效率的同時，維持一穩定之金融環境。 我國目前對於硬體式電子貨幣僅有「銀行發行現金儲值卡許可及管理辦法」可資規範，且適用上產生許多疑義，因此，本文針對電子貨幣之定義、現金儲值卡之定義，現金儲值卡交易關係中各個當事人之角色定位及法律關係，以及我國目前發展現金儲值卡及現行「銀行發行現金儲值卡許可及管理辦法」產生之疑義作一分析。就我國現行法規適用上之疑義，本文建議應釐清現金儲值卡之本質、規範現金儲值卡之發行機構、並應釐清現行「銀行發行現金儲值卡許可及管理辦法」所謂「多用途」之定義、修正現金儲值卡之法律定義、明定結算及清算機構、釐清儲值卡內之資金之性質、提昇「非銀行不得發行現金儲值卡」規範之法律位階、針對發卡機構之資產品質控管、加強消費者保護之相關規範並訂定現金儲值卡定型化契約範本，以完善我國現行之管理規範。

The present study aims to deliberate over a wider perspective on the topic of physical currency, assuming the global conversion to digital payment instruments affecting stakeholders at different scales alters number of aspects. The theoretical section discusses the process of transition to cashless society by identifying transformation stages and the barriers faced to undertake the shift. Subsequently, the links between factors as business environment, globalization, and shadow economy in relation to physical currency in circulation are examined by static and dynamic panel data analyses applying annual panel data for 70 countries for the period from 2013 to 2017. The conclusive inference is formulated based on outputs from the Blundell-Bond (1998) system GMM estimator. The empirical results provide significant evidence on negative relationship between business environment and physical currency in circulation and contrary positive link for shadow economy. Further, the greater impact of business environment on physical money among variables included, implies the promotion of electronic money solutions solely to be not sufficient to transit to cashless economy. We also construct transformation score ranking for the last five years to snap the transit stage among countries included in the study with...

Telekomunikacijų ir informacinių technologijų plėtra iš pagrindų pakeitė komercinės veiklos pobūdį. Verslas, visai dar neseniai egzistavęs tradicinėje (popierinėje) aplinkoje, įgavęs kitas formas, persikėlė į naujas skaitmenines erdves. Ši veiklos sfera praplėtė tradicinę komerciją iki elektroninės, kur visi finansiniai, atsiskaitymo ar kiti santykiai yra palaikomi moderniomis ryšio priemonėmis. Tačiau naujosios technologijos, plačios jų panaudojimo galimybės bei augantys vartotojų poreikiai kelia iššūkius susiklosčiusiai tradicinei tvarkai. Atsiranda poreikis ir net būtinybė suformuoti pakankamą teisinę bazę, kuri reglamentuotų naujų mokėjimo priemonių prigimtį, įtvirtintų šių priemonių naudotojų ir leidėjų teisinius santykius, šalių tarpusavio įsipareigojimus, civilinės atsakomybės principus. Todėl neatsižvelgiant į tai, kad mokėjimo kortelės tapo savaime suprantamu reiškiniu, vis dėlto šios elektroninės mokėjimo priemonės reglamentavimas nėra pakankamas. Nėra teisinio tikrumo ir dėl kitų elektroninių mokėjimo priemonių. Dėl šios priežasties šiame magistro darbe pateikiama mokėjimo kortelių ir kitų elektroninių mokėjimo priemonių teisinė analizė Lietuvos bei Europos Sąjungos teisės kontekste, nustatomos galimos reglamentavimo spragos, jų atsiradimo priežastys bei pateikiami pasiūlymai. / The development of telecommunications and information technologies changed in the essence the character of commercial activity. Business, which quite recently existed only in the traditional (paper) medium, having acquired other forms, got transferred into new digital spaces. This sphere of activity expanded traditional commerce to electronic one, where all financial, settlement and other relations are being maintained by modern means of communication. Nevertheless, new technologies, wide opportunities of their application and increasing needs of consumers give challenge to the traditional procedure. A need and even necessity emerges to form the sufficient legal basis, which would regulate the origin of new instruments of payment, would enforce the legal relations between consumers and issuers, the mutual obligations of the parties, and principles of civil liability. Therefore, notwithstanding the fact that payment cards have become a comprehensible phenomenon, however, the regulation of those instruments of electronic payment is insufficient. Legal certainty does not exist in respect of other instruments of electronic payment either. Due to this reason, in this Master thesis, a legal analysis of payment cards and electronic payment instruments is given in the context of Lithuania and European Union, possible gaps in the regulation, causes of their emergence are identified, and proposals are provided.

Alternatyvių atsiskaitymų e. versle sistemos pradeda kelti rimtą grėsmę tradiciniams atsiskaitymams elektronine bankininkyste, mokėjimo kortelėmis ar grynaisiais pinigais. Todėl būtina detaliau išsiaiškinti kokie yra alternatyvių atsiskaitymų ypatumai, kurie veiksniai vartotojams yra svarbiausi ir kokie yra alternatyvūs atsiskaitymo būdai. Tai siekiama padaryti išanalizuojant mokslinę literatūrą, pateikiant pagrindines alternatyvių atsiskaitymų sistemas, atliekant alternatyvių atsiskaitymų palyginamąją analizę ir vartotojų bei verslo subjektų naudojimosi alternatyviais atsiskaitymais ypatumų tyrimą. Tyrime ir darbe naudojami įvairūs mokslinės analizės metodai. Įvairios mokslinės literatūros, leidinių, straipsnių, naujienų ir kitų tyrimų ir šaltinių teorinė analizė. Įvairi statistika paimta iš įvairių statistiką renkančių tinklalapių bei institucijų, bei atliktas nestandartinis empirinis tyrimas anketinė apklausa ir tirta tikslinė internetinė bendruomenė, kuri naudojasi alternatyviais atsiskaitymais. Šiuo tyrimu siekiama atskleisti alternatyvių atsiskaitymų ypatumus ir tendencijas. Darbo rezultatai teigia, jog pagrindinės naudojamos sistemos yra PayPal, Mokėjimai.lt, Skrill, WebMoney, BitCoin ir kitos anonimiškumu pasižymėjusios nebeveikiančios sistemos (E-Gold, LibertyReserve ir kt.). Respondentai renkasi alternatyvius atsiskaitymo metodus atsiskaitant gyvenime ir perkant internetinėje parduotuvėje, jei tik yra tokia galimybė. Taip pat galima daryti išvadą, jog respondentai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Alternative payments in e. business begin to pose a serious threat to the traditional payments such as electronic banking, credit and debit cards or cash. Therefore, it is necessary to find out what are the features of alternative payment methods, which factors are the most important and what are the trends. All this work is done by analyzing the scientific literature, introducing main alternative payment systems, making the alternative payment system comparative analysis and making a survey of consumer and business use of the alternative payment system features and trends. There are various techniques used in this study. Theoretical analysis is done in the use of various scientific literatures, publications, articles, news and other sources of research papers. Various statistics are taken from various websites and other sources. The study includes a non-standard empirical survey on target group of the online community, which uses alternative payment systems. This study aims to reveal the alternative payment features and trends. The results display that the main system used are PayPal, Mokėjimai.lt, Skrill, WebMoney, BitCoin and other distinguished defunct anonymous systems (E-gold, LibertyReserve, etc.). Respondents prefer alternative methods when buying in e. shop if there is only such a possibility. It can also be concluded that the respondents are more likely to give up banks and their payment methods rather than cash payments. Respondents also notice that the use of... [to full text]

This thesis is aimed at cashless payments which have recently gained worldwide significance. Cash is being gradually phased-out by card transactions and mobile payments via non-bank provider of payment services. A question arises of what would happen if cash would disappear in its entirety and we would find ourselves in a "cashless society". This topic which at first glance appears to be utopian is the subject of this thesis. The first part compares the market of cashless payments in the Czech Republic and in northern Europe (which is amongst the most developed), in particular with regard to the use of cards and mobile payments. The second part is concerned with the phenomenon of shadow economy and the influence of cashless payments on its volume. Concrete recommendations for the Czech economy are also the part of this chapter. The final part hits the essence of the issue and deals with concrete pros and cons of going cashless. The chapter is systematically divided into three parts - security, cost-benefit analysis and legal aspects.

La transposition de la directive relative aux services de paiement du 13 novembre2007 en droit français est à l’origine de la création d’une nouvelle catégorie d’acteurs bancaires : l’établissement de paiement. La fourniture de services de paiement cesse ainsi d’être du domaine exclusif des établissements de crédit pour devenir l’activité principale des établissements de paiement. S’il est vrai que cette nouvelle répartition des activités bancaires ébranle le monopole bancaire, elle n’y met cependant pas fin. Pour une meilleure lisibilité et un contrôle plus efficace des acteurs, il est proposé une mutation du système bancaire grâce à d’une part une scission complète des activités bancaires, et d’autre part une indépendance des établissements de paiement face aux établissements de crédit. La sécurisation du marché des paiements dépend également de l’encadrement des opérations de paiement. La préservation de la confiance du consommateur est essentielle au bon fonctionnement du marché des services de paiement. / The transposition into French law of the Payment Services Directive of 13November 2007 led to the creation of a new category of players in the banking sector: the payment institution. The provision of payment services is no longer the sole domain of credit institutions but becomes the main activity of payment institutions. Although this new distribution of banking activities undermines thebanking monopoly, it does not terminate it. For a better legibility of the bankingsystem and a more efficient control of banking institutions, it is proposed amutation of the banking system through on the one hand, a complete separation of banking activities, and on the other hand payment institutions independence from credit institutions. Securing the payments services market also depends on the supervision of payment transactions. Preserving consumer’s trust is essential to awell-functioning payment services market.

No description available.

This dissertation studies the effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the banking sector and the payments system. It provides insight into how technology-induced changes occur, by exploring both the nature and scope of main technology innovations and evidencing their economic implications for banks and payment systems. Some parts in the dissertation are descriptive. They summarise the main technological developments in the field of finance and link them to economic policies. These parts are complemented with sections of the study that focus on assessing the extent of technology application to banking and payment activities. Finally, it includes also some work which borrows from the economic literature on banking. The need for an interdisciplinary approach arises from the complexity of the topic and the rapid path of change to which it is subject.The first chapter provides an overview of the influence of developments in ICT on the evolution of financial services and international capital flows. We include main indicators and discuss innovation in the financial sector, exchange rates and international capital flows. The chapter concludes with impact analysis and policy options regarding the international financial architecture, some monetary policy issues and the role of international institutions. The second chapter is a technology assessment study that focuses on the relationship between technology and money. The application of technology to payments systems is transforming the way we use money and, in some instances, is blurring the definition of what constitutes money. This chapter surveys the developments in electronic forms of payment and their relationship to the banking system. It also analyses the challenges posed by electronic money for regulators and policy makers, and in particular the opportunities created by two simultaneous processes: the Economic and Monetary Union and the increasing use of electronic payment instruments.The third chapter deals with the implications of developments in ICT on relationship banking. The financial intermediation literature explains relationship banking as a type of financial intermediation characterised by proprietary information and multiple interactions with customers. This form of banking is important for the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises. We discuss the effects of ICT on the banking sector as a whole and then apply these developments to the case of relationship banking.The fourth chapter is an empirical study of the effects of technology on the banking business, using a sample of data from the Spanish banking industry. The design of the study is based on some of the events described in the previous chapters, and also draws from the economic literature on banking. The study shows that developments in information management have differential effects on wholesale and retail banking activities. Finally, the last chapter is a technology assessment study on electronic payments systems in Spain and the European Union. It contains an analysis of existing payment systems and ongoing or planned initiatives in Spain. It forms part of a broader project comprising a series of country-specific analyses covering ten European countries. The main issues raised across the countries serve as the starting point to discuss implications of the development of electronic money for regulation and policies, and in particular, for monetary-policy making.