Payment Systems Publications

Public documents, working papers, assessment methodologies and other related tools produced by the World Bank or Bank staff in the area of Payment and Securities Settlement Systems are included here. Much of the work produced by the Bank’s payment system experts consists of Technical Assistance Notes, Assessment Reports, Policy Notes and other similar reports, which, because of their confidential nature, are not noted below.

Financial Infrastructure: Building Access through Transparent and Stable Financial Systems - A new report from IFC and the World Bank shows by focusing on building and reforming credit reporting, collateral registries, and payment and securities systems, more than half the population in emerging markets could have access to financial services within 10 years and enjoy financial transaction cost reductions of nearly 80 percent. The report maps financial intermediation systems and the size of the financial systems market.  It provides an expanded data index for measuring financial infrastructure and identifies reforms. International Finance Corporation, The World Bank. September 2009.

The Evolution of Real-Time Gross Settlement: Access, Liquidity and Credit, and Pricing identifies and analyzes some policy issues arising from central bank experience and practice in supporting real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems, both as settlement authorities and as service-providing RTGS system operators. By identifying practical policy issues, the authors hope to motivate operationally concrete responses by individual central banks to system-specific problems, and by consortia of central banks to multi-system problems that may call for harmonized approaches. The World Bank, by Peter Allsopp, Bruce Summers, and John Veale, February 2009.

Measuring Payment System Development. This exercise intends to provide central banks, in particular in developing countries, with a tool to monitor developments in their payments systems and to compare them with other countries. It is based on the data obtained from 142 country responses to the Global Payment Systems Survey carried out by the PSDG in 2007 and 2008 and published by the World Bank in June 2008 “Payment Systems Worldwide: a Snapshot. Outcomes of the Global Payment Systems Survey 2008." The World Bank, January 2009.

Balancing Cooperation and Competition in Retail Payment Systems: Lessons from Latin America Case Studies presents the findings of four case studies in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico) that have explored the issue of cooperation and competition in different retail payments markets. The study defines a conceptual framework to better identify the issues involved and propose policy  guidelines for the authorities and stakeholders. The World Bank, November 2008.

Payment Systems Worldwide: A Snapshot. Outcomes of the Global Payment Systems Survey 2008. This document analyzes the outcomes of a comprehensive survey carried out by the World Bank’s Payment Systems Development Group in 142 countries. The outcomes of this survey are expected to guide reform efforts in the payment system arena both nationally and globally. The World Bank, June 2008.

Retail Payment Systems to Support Financial Access: Infrastructure and Policy. The aim of the paper is to draw some lessons from the European experience and from the analysis of current trends in emerging economies with the view to proposing an agenda for reform in the retail payment sector of developing countries. CEMLA and the World Bank, by Massimo Cirasino and Jose Antonio Garcia, May 2007.

Reforming Payments and Securities Settlement Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. The book extracts the main lessons and experiences of the World Bank work, describing trends in payments and securities settlement systems in the Region. The World Bank, by Massimo Cirasino, Jose Antonio Garcia, Mario Guadamillas and Fernando Montes-Negret. December 2006.

Model of Country Assessment Report for the Payments Clearance and Settlement System. World Bank/CEMLA Western Hemisphere Initiative, Working Paper 3, by Massimo Cirasino. March 2004.
- CPSS Core Principles Assessment Matrix
- Central Bank's Responsibilities Assessment Matrix.

Systemically Important Payment Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: Results of Self-Assessment Exercises. World Bank/CEMLA Western Hemisphere Initiative, Research Series, by Carlos Arango and Joaquin Bernal. June 2003.

Standard Methodology for Country Tables on Payment and Securities Settlement Systems and for Comparative Tables. World Bank/CEMLA Western Hemisphere Initiative, Working Paper 5, by Massimo Cirasino, José Antonio García and Mario Guadamillas. March 2003.

Cooperation within the Payments System Model of Terms of Reference for a Payments Council. World Bank/CEMLA Western Hemisphere Initiative, Working Paper 4, by Massimo Cirasino. April 2002.

Financial Sector Assessment Program. Experience with the Assessments of Systemically Important Payment Systems. The World Bank and IMF. April 2002.

The Oversight of the Payments Systems: A Framework for the Development and Governance of Payment Systems in Emerging Economies. World Bank/CEMLA Western Hemisphere Initiative, Research Series, by Biagio Bossone, and Massimo Cirasino. July 2001.

Securities Clearing and Settlement Systems: a Guide to Best Practices. The World Bank, by Mario Guadamillas and Robert Keppler. April 2001.

Methodology for the Assessment of Securities Clearance and Settlement Systems. World Bank/CEMLA Western Hemisphere Initiative, Working Paper 2, by Mario Guadamillas. January 2001.

The Evolution of Payments in Europe, Japan, and the United States: Lessons for Emerging Market Economies. By David B. Humphrey, Setsuya Sato, Masayoshi Tsurumi, and Jukka M. Vesala. October 1996.

Payment Systems in Latin America: A Tale of Two Countries - Colombia and El Salvador. The World Bank, by Robert Listfield and Fernando Montes-Negret. October 1995.

Additional World Bank papers on Payment Systems can be found in the World Bank publications database.

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