For the last decades there has been a steady shift from cash to card payments and with increased smart phone penetration, payments have started to move into our mobile devices. This thesis studies how mobile payments can change the traditional payment landscape. The purpose is to assess the disruptiveness of the Swedish mobile payment market and describe key stakeholder strategies for managing a potentially disruptive change. The study has been designed as a combination of a theoretical and an empirical study where the theoretical part consisted of a literature review that hinted on a gap in terms of available literature on the disruptiveness of different mobile payment business models. Main theoretical concepts used are; disruptive innovation, business model innovation, and theories on competing solutions and dominant design. The subsequent empirical study consisted of a number of qualitative, indepth interviews with key stakeholder from the Swedish mobile payment industry: five mobile payment providers, one major merchant, and the Swedish Trade Federation. This thesis shows that two fundamentally different types of mobile C2B payments are emerging; mobile payment solutions based on existing card payment schemes and mobile payment solutions that build on new and independent payment schemes. The independent model has been defined as the most powerful disruptive force in relation to the existing market for card payments, mainly because it offers opportunities for innovative players to build simple new payment schemes that bypass traditional card payment players and therefore can be made far more cost efficient. However, many established card payment players are inhibiting this development since they are afraid it could seriously harm their existing card business.

<p>The purpose of this thesis work was to make a survey of current on-line payment technologies and find out which are they and how do they work? Compare and analyze them from a security point of view, as well as a usability point of view. What is good? What is bad? What is lacking?</p><p>To achieve this purpose, an overview of the current on-line payment technologies was acquired through academic books and papers, Internet sites, magazines. Basic cryptographic and security related techniques were studied for the security analysis of current on-line payment systems.</p><p>In this work, various current on-line payment systems were classified into two groups [Macro and Micro on-line payment systems]. This classification was based on the mode of on-line payment transactions. To analyze these on-line payment systems, a set of payment system requirements were formed [Security Issues, Usability Issues, Anonymity, Scalability etc].</p><p>Under the category of Macro payment system, Credit Card payment system, Debit Card payment system, Stored Value Card payment system, Electronic Check payment system, Electronic Cash payment system, Electronic account transfer payment system and mobile payment system transactions were examined.</p><p>Under the category of Micro payment system, Hash Chain based Payment System, Hash Collisions and Hash sequences based Payment Systems, Shared Secrete Keys based Payment Systems and Probability based payment systems were examined.</p><p>Based on the requirements of payment system, these on-line payment systems were analyzed and compared. In the analysis phase, the advantages and drawbacks of these payment systems were figured out.</p><p>It was found from the study that the credit card based payment systems are the most widely used means of conducting on-line payments. It is evident that credit card based payment systems satisfy stakeholder requirements the best, as they offer more flexible payment options, having a large user-base, benefit from familiarity and simplicity of use and also allow international payments. The other on-line payment systems lack this flexibility</p><p>It can also be extracted from the study that users want more simplified, convenient and secure on-line payment systems. Thus the futuristic on-line payment systems will have all secure payment options into one system.</p>

The purpose of this thesis work was to make a survey of current on-line payment technologies and find out which are they and how do they work? Compare and analyze them from a security point of view, as well as a usability point of view. What is good? What is bad? What is lacking? To achieve this purpose, an overview of the current on-line payment technologies was acquired through academic books and papers, Internet sites, magazines. Basic cryptographic and security related techniques were studied for the security analysis of current on-line payment systems. In this work, various current on-line payment systems were classified into two groups [Macro and Micro on-line payment systems]. This classification was based on the mode of on-line payment transactions. To analyze these on-line payment systems, a set of payment system requirements were formed [Security Issues, Usability Issues, Anonymity, Scalability etc]. Under the category of Macro payment system, Credit Card payment system, Debit Card payment system, Stored Value Card payment system, Electronic Check payment system, Electronic Cash payment system, Electronic account transfer payment system and mobile payment system transactions were examined. Under the category of Micro payment system, Hash Chain based Payment System, Hash Collisions and Hash sequences based Payment Systems, Shared Secrete Keys based Payment Systems and Probability based payment systems were examined. Based on the requirements of payment system, these on-line payment systems were analyzed and compared. In the analysis phase, the advantages and drawbacks of these payment systems were figured out. It was found from the study that the credit card based payment systems are the most widely used means of conducting on-line payments. It is evident that credit card based payment systems satisfy stakeholder requirements the best, as they offer more flexible payment options, having a large user-base, benefit from familiarity and simplicity of use and also allow international payments. The other on-line payment systems lack this flexibility It can also be extracted from the study that users want more simplified, convenient and secure on-line payment systems. Thus the futuristic on-line payment systems will have all secure payment options into one system.

Yes / Digital payment methods (DPMs) are evolving fast but they are yet to be widely adopted particularly in the developing countries. An initial review of literature suggests that several studies have already been conducted on this topic for understanding antecedents of digital payments adoption. However, only a few studies have examined this emerging topic in the context of developing countries. The aim of this submission is to identify antecedents of consumer adoption and usage of digital payments methods. The results of this literature analysis suggest that constructs related to technology acceptance model (TAM) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) along with trust and risk are the most frequently examined constructs for determining consumer’s behavioural intention to use and usage of DPMs. The findings from this work can help researchers selecting factors for inclusion in the future empirical works on this topic.

The past thirty years have seen rapid advances in the technological component of banking services and as a consequence new legal issues have come to the fore, especially with regard to Electronic Fund Transfers (EFTs) which are now used to transfer money around the world, and have made fund transactions between payers and payees easier, faster and more secure. The method involves risks for both banks and customers, due to the possibility of unauthorized payments risks, credit and insolvency problems, and confidentiality issues. Most contracts and obligations now depend on the new technology, although there is a variety of methods for dealing with the concomitant risks. EFTs share a number of similarities with paper-based funds transfers in regard to methods of regulation, and the careful observer can identify patterns and themes. Today, the business world depends heavily on EFT systems for its procedures; and government and academia have also taken a keen interest in EFTs. This thesis reviews and examines the existing legal position of liability of banks and customers for risks associated with EFT transactions: unauthorized EFT instruction and the problem of customer identity, credit risk and privacy, especially, the systems employed for safeguarding the customer’s transactions and data. The thesis also makes recommendations for change. The rules for the allocation of risk are based on the various mechanisms used to access the account. Also, due to the complexities of EFT, consumer protection becomes a paramount goal and is a subject of much concern, particularly when it comes to determining liability for losses. The UK government implemented the Payment Services Directive 2007 by adopting the Payment Services Regulations 2009, to regulate the system. However, such Regulations do not constitute a comprehensive regime that applies to all legal issues arising in the context of the EFT system. This study argues the necessity for a re-examination of existing laws and proposes a model for the future approach to the issues associated with EFT payment. Different approaches to EFT will be assessed, and the comparative and contrasting elements will be analysed in order to propose a comprehensive solution to the deficiencies in the current framework. Central to the problem is the absence of any uniform standard: individual banks offer differing contractual terms and conditions and different means of accessing accounts. Consequently it is time to formulate new and comprehensive rules for the allocation of liability of risks associated with EFT transactions.

Equitable access to essential medicines is a major challenge for policy-makers world-wide, including Central and Eastern European countries. This study analyses whether socioeconomic determinants influence the use of prescribed and non-prescribed medicines in eight Central and Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia). Further, the study discusses observed (in)equalities in medicine use in the context of the pharmaceutical policy framework and the implementation in these countries. The study is based on cross-sectional data from the first wave of the European Health Interview Survey (2007-2009). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to determine the association between socioeconomic status and medicine use (prescribed and non-prescribed medicines). This was supplemented by a pharmaceutical policy analysis based on indicators in four policy dimensions (sustainable funding, affordability, availability and accessibility, and rational selection and use of medicines). Overall, the analysis showed a gradient favouring individuals from higher socioeconomic groups in the consumption of non-prescribed medicines in the eight surveyed countries, and for prescribed medicines in three countries (Latvia, Poland, Romania). The pharmaceutical systems in the eight countries were, to varying degrees, characterized by a lack of (public) funding, thus resulting in high and growing shares of private financing (including co-payments for prescribed medicines), inefficiencies in the selection of medicines into reimbursement and limitations in medicines availability. Pharmaceutical policies aiming at reducing inequalities in medicine use require not only a consideration of the role of co-payments and other private expenditure but also adequate investment in medicines and transparent and clear processes regarding the inclusion of medicines into reimbursement. (authors' abstract)

The Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is a short-range radio communication channel which enables users to exchange data between devices. NFC provides a contactless technology for data transmission between smart phones, Personal Computers (PCs), Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and such devices. It enables the mobile phone to act as identification and a credit card for customers. However, the NFC chip can act as a reader as well as a card, and also be used to design symmetric protocols. Having several parties involved in NFC ecosystem and not having a common standard affects the security of this technology where all the parties are claiming to have access to client’s information (e.g. bank account details). The dynamic relationships of the parties in an NFC transaction process make them partners in a way that sometimes they share their access permissions on the applications that are running in the service environment. These parties can only access their part of involvement as they are not fully aware of each other’s rights and access permissions. The lack of knowledge between involved parties makes the management and ownership of the NFC ecosystem very puzzling. To solve this issue, a security module that is called Secure Element (SE) is designed to be the base of the security for NFC. However, there are still some security issues with SE personalization, management, ownership and architecture that can be exploitable by attackers and delay the adaption of NFC payment technology. Reorganizing and describing what is required for the success of this technology have motivated us to extend the current NFC ecosystem models to accelerate the development of this business area. One of the technologies that can be used to ensure secure NFC transactions is cloud computing which offers wide range advantages compared to the use of SE as a single entity in an NFC enabled mobile phone. We believe cloud computing can solve many issues in regards to NFC application management. Therefore, in the first contribution of part of this thesis we propose a new payment model called “NFC Cloud Wallet". This model demonstrates a reliable structure of an NFC ecosystem which satisfies the requirements of an NFC payment during the development process in a systematic, manageable, and effective way.

EU electricity markets are facing fundamental challenges as a result of the EU goal to increase the share of the renewable energy sources. This policy negatively influences profitability of the conventional producers known theoretically as "missing money" problem. As the conventional plants are crucial to offset the variability of renewable, this policy puts the stability of the whole grid at risk in long-term under the current electricity market design. The thesis tests and confirms the hypothesis that there is currently a "missing money" effect on the German energy market through a dynamic programming model. Secondly, three types of the capacity remuneration mechanisms (CRMs) are implemented (capacity payments, strategic reserve and capacity auction) in order to deal with "missing money" which mostly eliminates the missing money problem depending on the setting. The most effective CRM seems be the capacity auction model as the price is set dynamically by the market players and not arbitrarily by central regulator. The thesis further supports the creation of the demand flexibility scheme due to the expected low costs. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Este proyecto intenta explicar el diseño y la implementación de una aplicación para dispositivos móviles que funcione como recordatorio de compromisos de pago. Para este propósito, el usuario tendrá que alimentar por única vez de información la plataforma de la aplicación. La finalidad de nuestra aplicación es evitar que los usuarios paguen moras y comisiones o eviten cortes en sus diferentes tipos de servicios. / Executive Summary This project tries to explain the design and implementation of an application for mobile devices that works as a reminder of payment commitments. For this purpose, the user will have to feed the application platform only once. The purpose of our application is to prevent users from paying arrears and commissions or to avoid cuts in their different types of services. / Trabajo de investigación

Failure to collect reimbursement because of changing regulations negatively impacts hospital profitability. A multiple case study approach was used to explore the successful strategies billing managers employed to collect reimbursement for all legitimate Medicare claims. The target population for this study included 5 hospital billing managers from 3 organizations in the Northern New Jersey region. The complexity theory was used as a framework for assessing changing Medicare regulations and how the managers adapted to them. The data collection process for this study involved gathering data from participant interviews, documentation from the organizations of the participants, and government documented regulations and manuals. The logical and sequential order of data analysis for this study embraced Yin's 5-steps data analysis that includes compiling data, disassembling data, reassembling data, interpreting the data, and concluding. The successful strategies billing managers used that emerged as themes were remaining up to date with Medicare changing compliance regulations; enhancing communication with staff, multiple departments, and Medicare; and adopting a robust billing system and other systems that compliment billing. The implications of this study for social change include the potential to ensure access to patient care for benefiting families and communities through the sharing of successful strategies for Medicare claims.