Return to Retail Banking and Payments

48 Pages Posted: 16 Jan 2010

See all articles by Iftekhar Hasan

Iftekhar Hasan

Fordham University ; Bank of Finland; University of Sydney

Heiko Schmiedel

European Central Bank - Securities Settlement Systems Policy Division

Liang Song

Date Written: December 30, 2009

Abstract

The European banking industry joined forces to achieve a fully integrated market for retail payment services in the euro area: The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Against this background, the present paper examines the fundamental relationship between retail payment business and overall bank performance. Using data from across 27 European markets over the period 2000-07, we analyse whether the provisions of retail payment services are reflected in improved bank performance, using accounting ratios and efficiency measures. The results confirm that the performance of banks in countries with more developed retail payment service markets is better. This relationship is stronger in countries with a relatively high adoption of retail payment transaction technologies. Retail payment transaction technology itself can also improve bank performance, and evidence shows that heterogeneity in retail payment instruments is associated with enhanced bank performance. Similarly, a higher usage of electronic retail payment instruments seems to stimulate banking business. We also show that retail payment services have a more significant impact on savings and cooperative bank performance although they have a positive influence on the performance of commercial banks. Additionally, findings reveal that impact of retail services on bank performance is dominated by fee income. Finally, an effective payment service market is found to be associated with higher bank stability. Our findings are robust to different regression specifications. The results may also be informative for the industry when reconsidering its business models in the light of current financial market developments.

Keywords: retail payment, bank performance, cost and profit efficiency

JEL Classification: G21, G28

Suggested Citation

Hasan, Iftekhar and Schmiedel, Heiko and Song, Liang, Return to Retail Banking and Payments (December 30, 2009). ECB Working Paper No. 1135, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1521498 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1521498

Iftekhar Hasan (Contact Author)

Fordham University ( email )

45 COLUMBUS AVENUE
GBA-5TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10023
United States

Bank of Finland ( email )

P.O. Box 160
Helsinki 00101
Finland

University of Sydney ( email )

P.O. Box H58
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

Heiko Schmiedel

European Central Bank - Securities Settlement Systems Policy Division ( email )

Directorate General Payment Systems
Kaiserstrasse 29
D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
+49-69 13 44 70 59 (Phone)
+49-69 13 44 60 00 (Fax)

No contact information is available for Liang Song

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