Introduction

Payments are necessary for the functioning of the economy. At the same time, payments consume extensive resources. In the Riksbank's Cost Study, published today, the authors estimate that the social cost of payments in Sweden amounts to almost one per cent of GDP, or around SEK 5,000 per inhabitant and year. At the same time, the payment market has become more efficient over the past 10–15 years as a result of rapid digitalisation. In this Economic Commentary, we show that different digital payments have significant differences in costs. This indicates that it is still possible to further improve the efficiency even of a digital payment market like the Swedish. However, cost efficiency is not everything. A complete socio-economic assessment would also include the benefits of different payment instruments. This applies, for example, to important aspects of the payment market such as inclusion, sustainability and resilience.^[1] Economic Commentaries are brief analyses of issues with relevance for the Riksbank. They may be written by individual members of the Executive Board or by employees at the Riksbank. Employees’ commentaries are approved by their head of department, while Executive Board members are themselves responsible for the content of the commentaries they write.

Published: 23 March 2023