26 November 2014

Cross-border Low Value Payments and Regional Integration: Enablers and Disablers

How to determine the success or failure of cross-border regional payment schemes.

As cross-border trade continues to grow, the barriers between national payment systems are increasingly seen as obstacles to economic growth. Businesses and consumers continue to demand more speed and transparency in payments for both domestic and cross-border payments, and regional payments integration can be seen as an important step in this process. While much has been written about the development and key features of individual regional payment systems and agreements, there has been little research on the enablers, disablers, and success factors across a wide range of regional payments projects.

While no two regional projects are completely alike, there are a number of common factors that lead to the success or failure of a regional payments scheme. This paper, “Cross-border Low Value Payments and Regional Integration: Enablers and Disablers” explores nine different payments systems to determine how each defines success and what factors led to the success or failure of a regional payments integration project, as well as including a rubric that is used to rank the comparative success of each system.

by Colin Adams, Leo Lipis

Institution(s):
  • Independent Research Consultants