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on Payment Systems and Financial Technology |
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Issue of 2023‒05‒22
28 papers chosen by |
| By: | Mansur Bestas |
| Abstract: | Decentralized finance, powered by blockchain technology, is growing day by day. This field, which emerged a few years ago, today manages $70 billion in assets. In this study, the concept of decentralized finance is discussed and explained the differences from traditional finance. Then, compliance with the legal regulations and the requirements to ensure compliance are mentioned. An evaluation has been made about the financial services offered by the decentralized finance field and the stock market and stablecoins that it uses as a tool while providing these services. Its economic effects, security and, privacy dimensions are examined. In the study, the differences between centralized and decentralized finance, which generally covers legal, economic, security, privacy, and market manipulation, are systematically analyzed. A structured methodology is presented to distinguish between centralized and decentralized financial services. Keywords: decentralized finance, FinTech, financial regulation, blockchain, distributed ledger technology. |
| Date: | 2023–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2304.01918&r=pay |
| By: | Milo Bianchi; Matthieu Bouvard; Renato Gomes; Andrew Rhodes; Vatsala Shreeti |
| Abstract: | We connect various streams of academic literature to analyze how alternative competition and regulatory policies may affect the development of digital financial services, and particularly of mobile payments. Our main objective is to highlight the extent to which existing models, often coming from related industries (such as telecom, payments, and banking) can be applied to study the effects of mobile money interoperability. We focus on four dimensions of interoperability. First, we consider mobile network interoperability (whether clients of one telecom can access another telecom's payment services) in connection with the IO literature on tying. Second, we discuss platform level interoperability (the ability to send money off-network) in light of the literature on compatibility. We also build on the behavioral IO literature to suggest how the effects of interoperability may be very heterogeneous across various types of firms and consumers, or even backfire. Third, we consider interoperability in the cash-in-cash-out agent network, in light of the literature on co-investment in network industries, and of more specific studies on ATMs' interoperability. Fourth, we discuss how the literature in banking and on data ownership can be used to understand interoperability of data. We conclude with some broader remarks on policy implications and on possible directions for future research. |
| Keywords: | mobile payments, interoperability, financial inclusion, competition policy |
| JEL: | L51 L96 G23 G28 O16 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bis:biswps:1092&r=pay |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaounde, Cameroon); Nicholas M. Odhiambo (Pretoria, South Africa) |
| Abstract: | The present study investigates how increasing bank accounts and bank concentration affect mobile money innovations in 148 countries. It builds on scholarly and policy concerns in the literature that increasing bank accounts may not be having the desired effects on financial inclusion on the one hand and on the other, that bank concentration which is a proxy for market power is a relevant mobile money innovation demand factor. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions. From the findings, it is apparent that boosting bank accounts is positively related to the three mobile money innovations (i.e. mobile bank accounts and the mobile phone used to send money). Moreover, some critical levels of bank account penetration require complementary policies in order to maintain the positive relationship between boosting bank accountsand positive outcomes in terms of money mobile innovations.Conversely, financial inclusion in terms of the three mobile money innovations is not significantly apparent upon enhancing bank concentration. Policy implications are discussed in the light of the provided thresholds for complementary policies. |
| Keywords: | Mobile money; technology; diffusion; financial inclusion; inclusive innovation, information asymmetry |
| JEL: | D10 D14 D31 D60 O30 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:23/019&r=pay |
| By: | Mr. Tanai Khiaonarong; David Humphrey |
| Abstract: | The use of cash for payments is not well measured. We view the value of cash withdrawn from ATMs, or as a share of all payments, as a more accurate and timely measure of cash use compared to the standard measure of currency in circulation, or as a ratio to GDP. These two measures are compared for 14 advanced and emerging market economies. When aggregated, the trend in cash use for payments is currently falling for half the world’s population. Such a measure can help inform policy decisions regarding CBDC and regulatory decisions concerning access to and use of cash. |
| Keywords: | Cash; payments; access to cash; central bank digital currency; cash use; ATM cash; aggregate Currency value; value of cash; use of cash; Currencies; Monetary base; Purchasing power parity; Stocks; Payment systems |
| Date: | 2023–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2023/062&r=pay |
| By: | António Manuel Portugal Duarte (University of Coimbra, Centre for Business and Economics Research, CeBER and Faculty of Economics); Fátima Teresa Castelo Assunção Sol Murta (Univ of Coimbra, CeBER, Faculty of Economics); Nuno José Henriques Baetas da Silva (Ph.D. Student at Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra); Beatriz Rodrigues Vieira (Univ Coimbra, Faculty of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper analysis and compares the volatility of seven cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, BitcoinCash, Ripple, Stellar and Litecoin – to the volatility of seven centralized currencies – Yuan, Yen, Canadian Dollar, Brazilian Real, Swiss Franc, Euro and British Pound. We estimate GARCH models to analyze their volatility. The results point to a considerably high volatility of cryptocurrencies when compared to that of centralized currencies. Therefore, we conclude that cryptocurrencies still fall far short of fulfilling all the requirements to be considered as a currency, specifically regarding the functions of store of value and unit of account. |
| Keywords: | Centralized currencies, cryptocurrencies; GARCH models; volatility. |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gmf:papers:2023-02&r=pay |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaounde, Cameroon); Sara le Roux (Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK) |
| Abstract: | The study examines how mobile money innovations transform unemployed women to self-employed women. The empirical evidence is based on interactive quantile regressions focusing on data in 44 countries from sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2004 to 2018. The hypothesis that mobile money innovations transform female unemployment to female self-employment is tested. Eight mobile money innovation dynamics presented in four categories are employed. Three main common findings are apparent from interactions between female unemployment, eight mobile money innovation dynamics and female self-employment: (i) the investigated hypothesis is valid exclusively at the top quantiles of female self-employment; (ii) the net effects are consistently negative and (iii) the corresponding conditional or interactive effects upon which the net effects are based are consistently positive. This is an indication that critical masses at which money innovation innovations have an overall positive net effect on female self-employment are apparent. The corresponding mobile money innovation policy thresholds at which the net effects on female self-employment change from negative to positive are provided. Policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Mobile phones; financial inclusion; women; inequality; sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | G20 O40 I10 I20 I32 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:23/016&r=pay |
| By: | Offer-Westort, Molly (U of Chicago); Rosenzweig, Leah R. (U of Chicago); Athey, Susan (Stanford U) |
| Abstract: | During a global pandemic, how can we best prompt social media users to demonstrate discernment in sharing information online? We ran a contextual adaptive experiment on Facebook Messenger with users in Kenya and Nigeria and tested 40 combinations of interventions aimed at decreasing intentions to share misinformation while maintaining intentions to share factual posts related to COVID-19. We estimate precise null effects of showing users warning flags or suggesting related articles alongside misleading posts, tactics used by social media platforms. Instead, users share more discerningly when they are given tips for spotting misinformation or are nudged to consider information’s accuracy, reducing misinformation sharing by 7.5% and 4.5% relative to control, respectively. We find significant heterogeneity in response to these treatments across users, indicating tips and the accuracy nudge affect outcomes through separate mechanisms. These low-cost, scalable interventions have the potential to improve the quality of information circulating online. |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:4072&r=pay |
| By: | He, Yuanmo; Tsvetkova, Milena |
| Abstract: | The rise of social media has opened countless opportunities to explore social science questions with new data and methods. However, research on socioeconomic inequality remains constrained by limited individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) measures in digital trace data. Following Bourdieu, we argue that the commercial and entertainment accounts Twitter users follow reflect their economic and cultural capital. Adapting a political science method for inferring political ideology, we use correspondence analysis to estimate the SES of 3, 482, 652 Twitter users who follow the accounts of 339 brands in the United States. We validate our estimates with data from the Facebook Marketing application programming interface, self-reported job titles on users’ Twitter profiles, and a small survey sample. The results show reasonable correlations with the standard proxies for SES, alongside much weaker or nonsignificant correlations with other demographic variables. The proposed method opens new opportunities for innovative social research on inequality on Twitter and similar online platforms. |
| Keywords: | socioeconomic status; Twitter; correspondence analysis; measurement; social media; cultural capital; Grant Ref. 92 173; Sage deal |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2023–04–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:118509&r=pay |
| By: | Afonso, Gara (Federal Reserve Bank of New York); Duffie, Darrell (Stanford U); Rigon, Lorenzo (Stanford U); Shin, Hyun Song (BIS) |
| Abstract: | Before the era of large central bank balance sheets, banks relied on incoming payments to fund outgoing payments in order to conserve scarce liquidity. Even in the era of large central bank balance sheets, rather than funding payments with abundant reserve balances, we show that outgoing payments remain highly sensitive to incoming payments. By providing a window on liquidity constraints revealed by payment behavior, our results shed light on thresholds for the adequacy of reserve balances. Our findings are timely, given the ongoing shrinking of central bank balance sheets around the world in response to inflation. |
| JEL: | E42 E44 E52 E58 G21 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:4062&r=pay |
| By: | Carmen Sánchez (Banco de España); Jara Quintanero (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | La aplicación de las tecnologías en áreas como la computación en la nube, la blockchain y el big data, trasladadas a las finanzas, además de generar nuevos modelos de negocio, aplicaciones, productos y servicios con efecto material en los mercados financieros o en las instituciones que los conforman, puede facilitar el acceso a los servicios financieros y mejorar la eficiencia del sector. Muchas de estas soluciones son desarrolladas por empresas especializadas en el uso de las nuevas tecnologías en las finanzas, más conocidas como fintech, así como por grandes compañías tecnológicas o bigtech, aunque en este documento nos centraremos en las primeras. Desde 2010, las fintech han proliferado, enfocándose a menudo en segmentos específicos del mercado, como los de pagos, crédito o gestión de patrimonios, y transformando el ecosistema financiero en muchas jurisdicciones. Por el momento, el sector fintech presenta una dimensión muy reducida en comparación con el tamaño del conjunto del sector financiero. No obstante, el alcance simultáneo en varias actividades de la cadena de valor del sistema financiero, el elevado ritmo de crecimiento y la globalización (las fintech se encuentran en casi todas las jurisdicciones, y las grandes tecnológicas o bigtech tienen presencia global) aconsejan un seguimiento continuo. Sin embargo, se trata de una tarea ardua, debido a la falta de información estadística adecuada y armonizada sobre fintech. Por ello, en el siguiente trabajo se han revisado diversas fuentes de datos para dar una visión general del panorama fintech en las economías mundiales, para después centrar el foco en aquellas que operan en España y, seguidamente, repasar algunas iniciativas que se están llevando a cabo para abordar los retos a los que se enfrentan los reguladores. |
| Keywords: | clasificación sectorial, innovación financiera, empresas fintech, startups |
| JEL: | G23 G29 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2214&r=pay |
| By: | Athey, Susan (Stanford U); Karlan, Dean (Northwestern U); Palikot, Emil (Stanford U); Yuan, Yuan (Carnegie Mellon U) |
| Abstract: | Online platforms often face challenges being both fair (i.e., non-discriminatory) and efficient (i.e., maximizing revenue). Using computer vision algorithms and observational data from a microlending marketplace, we find that choices made by borrowers creating online profiles impact both of these objectives. We further support this conclusion with a web-based randomized survey experiment. In the experiment, we create profile images using Generative Adversarial Networks that differ in a specific feature and estimate its impact on lender demand. We then counterfactually evaluate alternative platform policies and identify particular approaches to influencing the changeable profile photo features that can ameliorate the fairness-efficiency tension. |
| JEL: | D0 D41 J0 O1 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:4071&r=pay |
| By: | Leonardo Gambacorta; Romina Gambacorta; Roxana Mihet |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the links between advances in financial technology, investors' sophistication, and the composition and returns of their financial portfolios. We develop a simple portfolio choice model under asymmetric information and derive some theoretical predictions. Using detailed microdata from Banca d'Italia, we test these predictions for Italian households over the period 2004-20. In general, heterogeneity in portfolio composition and in returns between sophisticated and unsophisticated investors grows with improvements in financial technology. This heterogeneity is reduced only if financial technology is accessible to everyone and if investors have a similar capacity to use it. |
| Keywords: | inequality, inclusion, FinTech, innovation, Matthew Effect |
| JEL: | G1 G5 G4 D83 L8 O3 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bis:biswps:1091&r=pay |
| By: | Narang, Unnati (U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Shankar, Venkatesh (Texas A&M U); Narayanan, Sridhar (Stanford U) |
| Abstract: | How does a failure in a retailer's mobile app impact shoppers' purchases in its online (website and app) and offline (brick-and-mortar store) channels? Our main hypothesis is that an app failure has a negative effect on offline purchases and no effect on online purchases--after an app failure, shoppers who use the app primarily to search for information but make purchases mostly in the offline channels (search users) engage in search abandonment and forego or reduce their offline purchases; shoppers who use the app mainly to make purchases (checkout users) and online shoppers who use the app for search but purchase on the retailer's website as well engage in channel switching, i.e., switch their intended action to the website as it is just a click away. An alternative hypothesis is that an app failure has no effect on purchases because shoppers engage in temporal substitution, i.e., simply delay their purchase and in channel switching for both search and purchase. It is challenging to empirically examine these hypotheses and estimate the causal effects of an app failure because field experiments inducing such failures are infeasible. We use a natural experiment, an exogenous two-hour failure in a large offline-dominant omnichannel retailer's mobile app, to examine the effects of app failure on purchases in each channel. The results are consistent with our main hypothesis. An app failure has a significant overall negative effect on shoppers' frequency, quantity, and monetary value of purchases across channels. This decrease in purchases after an app failure is driven by lower purchases in offline stores and not in the online channel, consistent with search abandonment and channel switching. Finally, an app failure has a smaller (larger) negative effect on the purchases of shoppers who spent more in the past (purchased more recently, searched for products on the app in the past) with the retailer. |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:4053&r=pay |
| By: | Mark J. Johnson; Itzhak Ben-David; Jason Lee; Vincent Yao |
| Abstract: | FinTech lending—known for using big data and advanced technologies—promised to break away from the traditional credit scoring and pricing models. Using a comprehensive dataset of FinTech personal loans, our study shows that loan rates continue to rely heavily on conventional credit scores, including 45% higher rates for nonprime borrowers. Other known default predictors are often neglected. Within each segment (prime/nonprime) loan rates are not very responsive to default risk, resulting in realized loan-level returns decreasing with risk. The pricing distortions result in substantial transfers from nonprime to prime borrowers and from low- to high-risk borrowers within segment. |
| JEL: | G21 G23 G50 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31154&r=pay |
| By: | Kreitmeir, David; Raschky, Paul Anton (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the effects of the ban of ChatGPT, a generative pre-trained transformer chatbot, on individual productivity. We first compile data on the hourly coding output of over 8, 000 professional GitHub users in Italy and other European countries to analyse the impact of the ban on individual productivity. Combining the high-frequency data with the sudden announcement of the ban in a difference-in-differences framework, we find that the output of Italian developers decreased by around 50\% in the first two business days after the ban and recovered after that. Applying a synthetic control approach to daily Google search and Tor usage data shows that the ban led to a significant increase in the use of censorship bypassing tools. Our findings show that users swiftly implement strategies to bypass Internet restrictions but this adaptation activity creates short-term disruptions and hampers productivity. |
| Date: | 2023–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:v3cgs&r=pay |
| By: | Ablam Estel Apeti (LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne); Jean-Louis Combes (LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne); Eyah Denise Edoh (LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of mobile money adoption on entrepreneurship in a large panel of 105 developing countries over the period 2006-2020 using entropy balancing method. Results indicate that countries with mobile money have higher entrepreneurial activities. Specifically, countries with mobile money experienced an increase of 0.35 percentage points in their entrepreneurial activity compared to nonmobile money countries. This result is robust to several robustness tests, including altering the definition of mobile money, the definition of entrepreneurship, placebo tests, adding additional control variables, changing the sample design, and alternative estimation methods such as panel fixed effects, and the GMM system. Furthermore, the heterogeneity tests performed indicate the sensitivity of our results to the intensity of mobile money use, some structural factors such as democracy, conflict, regulatory quality, corruption, financial development, internet, and education. |
| Keywords: | Mobile money, entrepreneurship, entropy balancing, developing countries |
| Date: | 2023–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04081304&r=pay |
| By: | Rodney J. Garratt; Zhentong Lu; Phoebe Tian |
| Abstract: | Using detailed data from Canada’s new high-value payment system (HVPS), we show how participants of the system save liquidity by exploiting the new gridlock resolution arrangement. These observed behaviors are consistent with the equilibrium of a “gridlock game” that captures the key incentives that participants face in the system. The findings have important implications for the design of HVPSs and shed light on financial institutions’ liquidity preference. |
| Keywords: | Financial institutions; Payment clearing and settlement systems |
| JEL: | E42 E58 G21 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:23-26&r=pay |
| By: | Alan Guo |
| Abstract: | We develop a formalism for reasoning about trading on decentralized exchanges on blockchains and a formulation of a particular form of maximal extractable value (MEV) that represents the total arbitrage opportunity extractable from on-chain liquidity. We use this formalism to prove that for blockchains with deterministic block times whose liquidity pools satisfy some natural properties that are satisfied by pools in practice, this form of MEV is invariant under changes to the ordering mechanism of the blockchain and distribution of block times. We do this by characterizing the MEV as the profit of a particularly simple arbitrage strategy when left uncontested. These results can inform design of blockchain protocols by ruling out designs aiming to increase trading opportunity by changing the ordering mechanism or shortening block times. |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2304.11010&r=pay |
| By: | Jesús Fernández-Villaverde; Daniel R. Sanches |
| Abstract: | The gold standard emerged as the international monetary system by the end of the 19th century. We formally study its properties in a micro-founded model and find that the scarcity of the world gold stock not only results in a suboptimal output of goods that are purchased with money but also subjects the domestic economy of a country to external shocks. The creation of inside money in the form of private credit instruments adds to the money supply, usually resulting in a Pareto improvement, but opens the door to the international transmission of banking crises. These properties of the gold standard can explain the limited adherence by peripheral countries because of the potential risks to their economies. We argue that the gold standard can be sustainable at the core but not at the periphery. |
| Keywords: | gold standard; specie flows; non-neutrality of money; inside money |
| JEL: | E42 E58 G21 |
| Date: | 2022–09–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:94803&r=pay |
| By: | Niesten, Hannelore |
| Abstract: | Several African countries have introduced taxes on digital financial services (DFS) during the past decade. Given the size and rapid growth of the telecom and DFS sector, DFS taxation is considered an opportunity to broaden the government’s revenue base. These recent developments need to be considered alongside the framework for taxation of traditional financial services (TFS) delivered by banks and other formal financial institutions – such as credit unions, insurance companies and microfinance institutions. The working paper analyses key legislative, tax and regulatory policy instruments, comparing the tax framework in nine countries in Africa: Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Summary of Working Paper 162 by Hannelore Niesten. |
| Keywords: | Finance, |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idq:ictduk:17941&r=pay |
| By: | Akinnubi, Abiola |
| Abstract: | Deliberation and communication within the national space have had numerous implications on how citizens online and offline perceive government. It has also impacted the relationship between opposition and incumbent governments in the Indo-Pacific region. Authoritarian regimes have historically had control over the dissemination of information, thereby controlling power and limiting challenges from citizens who are not comfortable with the status quo. Social media and blogs have allowed citizens of these countries to find a way to communicate, and the exchange of information continues to rise. The quest by both authoritarian and democratic regimes to control or influence the discussion in the public sphere has given rise to concepts like cybertroopers, congressional bloggers, and commentator bloggers, among others. Cybertroopers have become the de facto online soldiers of authoritarian regimes who must embrace democracy. While commentator and congressional bloggers have acted with different strategies, commentator bloggers educate online citizens with knowledgeable information to influence the citizens. Congressional bloggers are political officeholders who use blogging to communicate their positions on ongoing national issues. Therefore, this work has explored various concepts synonymous with the Indo-Pacific public sphere and how it shapes elections and democracy. |
| Date: | 2022–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:8nj7y&r=pay |
| By: | Oscar Borgogno (Bank of Italy); Michele Savini Zangrandi (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | The paper provides an up-to-date overview of the data governance framework developed by the People’s Republic of China. The work investigates whether and how the domestic legal framework on data governance has influenced Chinese trade policy with reference to cross-border data flows and e-commerce issues (at the WTO and G20 level). This study shows that Chinese data governance features a two-pronged legal architecture in which the Cyberspace Administration of China plays a prominent role. By prioritizing the need to maintain party-state domestic control across the digital economy, China has proved to be extremely averse to any international agreement that could undermine its domestic data governance framework. |
| Keywords: | data governance, digital infrastructure, China, data sovereignty, digital trade |
| JEL: | K20 K33 O33 P33 P37 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_759_23&r=pay |
| By: | Kapoor, Anuj (Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad); Narayanan, Sridhar (Stanford U); Manchanda, Puneet (U of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | Obesity and excess weight are major global health challenges. A number of tech- nological solutions, including mobile apps, have been developed to help people lose weight. Many such applications provide access to human coaches who help consumers set goals, motivate them, answer questions and help them in their weight loss jour- neys. Alternatively, similar services could be provided using AI coaches, which would be cheaper and more scalable than human coaches. In this study, we ask if access to human coaches incrementally affects weight loss outcomes for consumers relative to having AI coaches alone. Our empirical context is a mobile app with two types of subscription plans, those with AI coaches only and those with additional access to human coaches. We compare adopters of the two types of plans on their weight loss achievements. We address potential self-selection into these plans using a matching- based approach that leverages rich behavioral data to find matching consumers on the two types of plans. Our empirical analysis of about 65000 consumers reveals access to human coaches leads to higher weight loss than with AI coaches alone. We document heterogeneity in these differences based on age, gender, and starting BMI of the con- sumers. We also explore potential mechanisms for the human coach impact on weight loss. |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:4070&r=pay |
| By: | José Luis Romero Ugarte (Banco de España); Abel Sánchez Martín (Banco de España); Carlos Martín Rodríguez (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | A lo largo de los últimos años, los sistemas de pago se han visto beneficiados por los desarrollos tecnológicos, que han favorecido su evolución y adaptación a las necesidades de los usuarios. Dichas infraestructuras dependen en última instancia del dinero de banco central, y recientemente se ha intensificado el debate sobre la conveniencia de actualizar las distintas formas de representación de dicho activo. El objeto del presente documento es clasificar las distintas alternativas presentes en el ámbito de los pagos mayoristas e identificar el impacto que podrían tener en los mercados financieros. Para ello, se enumeran las motivaciones que impulsaron la creación de un sistema de grandes pagos unificado en el Eurosistema, y se analiza si dichas motivaciones siguen presentes en la actualidad y en qué medida podrían verse afectadas por una posible generalización de alguna de las alternativas identificadas en los sistemas de pago mayoristas en el Eurosistema. |
| Keywords: | CBDC, TARGET, sistemas de pago, innovación |
| JEL: | O33 E42 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2306&r=pay |
| By: | Andrés Alonso-Robisco (Banco de España); José Manuel Carbó (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | Recientes avances tecnológicos, como el almacenamiento masivo de datos y la computación en la nube, están dando lugar a un mayor uso de la inteligencia artificial en la economía y las finanzas, y modificando aspectos fundamentales tanto para entidades como para supervisores. En este documento revisamos las principales tendencias de esta transformación, especialmente el uso de algoritmos de aprendizaje automático para la predicción en entornos de incertidumbre, y detallamos algunos de los casos de uso más relevantes en la actualidad, como son la calificación crediticia, el control del fraude y la predicción macroeconómica. Para ello se utilizan en gran medida las discusiones que tuvieron lugar durante el 1.er Seminario de Inteligencia Artificial aplicada a los Servicios Financieros, organizado por el Banco de España el 17 de junio de 2022. Concluimos con una reflexión sobre la convivencia de esta tecnología con los modelos econométricos tradicionales y la necesidad de gestionar nuevos factores de riesgo asociados a su uso, como la interpretabilidad de los resultados. |
| Keywords: | aprendizaje automático, inteligencia artificial, finanzas, economía |
| JEL: | G20 C10 C45 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2222&r=pay |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaounde, Cameroon); Nicholas M. Odhiambo (Pretoria, South Africa) |
| Abstract: | The present study contributes to the extant literature by assessing how microfinance institutions (MFIs) affect female entrepreneurship, contingent on female unemployment levels. The study focuses on 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 2004 to 2018. The empirical evidence is based on interactive quantile regressions, which put emphasis on nations with high, low and intermediate levels of business constraints. The analysis is tailored to provide avoidable female unemployment levels in the implementation of policies designed for MFIs to promote female business ownership. The hypotheses that MFIs are favorable for female business owners and some critical rates of female unemployment should be avoided in order for the favorable incidence to be maintained is exclusively valid in the 10th quantiles of the cost of business by females and time to start-up a business by females. Policy implications are discussed. This study has complemented the extant literature by providing actionable female unemployment critical masses that governments can act upon in tailoring the nexus between the relevance of MFIs in the doing of business by females. |
| Keywords: | Africa; Microfinance; Gender; Inclusive development |
| JEL: | G20 I10 I32 O40 O55 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:23/018&r=pay |
| By: | Belén Aroca Moya (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | El neurodiseño y el diseño emocional se aplican en el desarrollo de productos que conecten con la visión y el estilo de vida de los consumidores. Esta tendencia también afecta a los billetes: son necesarios diseños más seguros y fiables que logren representar a los ciudadanos y despertar un sentimiento de orgullo al utilizarlos. El objetivo de este documento es compilar los conceptos y fundamentos clave de la neurociencia, la percepción y el diseño, así como ofrecer una visión general de la neurociencia y de las técnicas de análisis aplicadas al ciclo de vida del billete: el diseño de billetes y de sus elementos de seguridad, la discriminación de reproducciones ilegítimas y la evaluación de defectos de fabricación para la gestión de la calidad. Las técnicas de análisis neurométrico constituyen una herramienta eficaz para cuantificar el impacto de la estimulación sensorial de la percepción del billete y evaluar diferentes procesos cognitivos, como el interés visual, la memoria, las emociones o la atención sostenida en las diferentes zonas de interés del billete, tal y como se describe en los distintos estudios de percepción analizados en este documento. Esta información, junto con el análisis de los diferentes modelos perceptivos de los usuarios (incluidas las personas con problemas de visión), permite desarrollar diseños de billetes capaces de responder a las necesidades de los usuarios y facilitar la identificación de los elementos de seguridad incluidos. La introducción de nuevas tendencias, como la tactilidad, el estudio de la voz, la realidad virtual o la inteligencia artificial, contribuye a la continua adaptación y evolución de la neurociencia y de sus herramientas. Fruto de esta combinación de neurodiseño, realidad virtual y tecnologías de inteligencia artificial, surge el proyecto Neurocash, desarrollado en colaboración por el Banco de España y el Laboratorio de Neurotecnologías Inmersivas del Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería de la Universitat Politècnica de València. El objetivo del proyecto es conseguir desarrollar un efectivo que cumpla con los requisitos como medio de pago atractivo, fácil de identificar y seguro, y con las demandas del público y de otras partes interesadas de la sociedad. |
| Keywords: | neurociencia, percepción, neurodiseño, billetes, cognición, elementos de seguridad, emociones, atención, Neurocash |
| JEL: | D87 E42 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2304&r=pay |
| By: | Erik Brynjolfsson; Danielle Li; Lindsey R. Raymond |
| Abstract: | We study the staggered introduction of a generative AI-based conversational assistant using data from 5, 179 customer support agents. Access to the tool increases productivity, as measured by issues resolved per hour, by 14 percent on average, with the greatest impact on novice and low-skilled workers, and minimal impact on experienced and highly skilled workers. We provide suggestive evidence that the AI model disseminates the potentially tacit knowledge of more able workers and helps newer workers move down the experience curve. In addition, we show that AI assistance improves customer sentiment, reduces requests for managerial intervention, and improves employee retention. |
| JEL: | D8 J24 M15 M51 O33 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31161&r=pay |