Financial Crisis and Coronavirus as Turning Points?
Not for the Scandinavian countries. Historically, they have known only one direction: south. For the other countries, the financial crisis (2008) and the COVID pandemic (2020) are turning points, less so for the UK. Historically low interest rates, foreign demand and the store of value effect are likely to play a role in the rise. The decline is due to lower economic activity and shrinking retail trade, as well as the digitalization of payments.
Legend - red: Switzerland - dark blue: United States - light blue: Euro area - green: Sweden - dark grey: Norway - orange: United Kingdom
Focus Switzerland: Wallet Usage
64% of the population used at least one of the common wallets last year. This is almost twice as many as in 2020.
Legend - dark blue: 2020 - medium blue: 2021 - light blue: 2022 - red: 2023
Average Resource Costs per Transaction
Cash payments cause the highest economic costs in terms of resource costs. For the two most expensive means of payment, the financial institutions and infrastructure providers are the biggest cost drivers. The Swiss National Bank, Swissmint, and consumers hardly play a role.
Growth rates of transaction volumes in RTGS systems between 2020 and 2021 and between 2021 and 2022
The Swiss RTGS systems in Swiss francs (SIC) and euros (euroSIC) have the highest growth rates between 2020 and 2021 compared with the world's largest systems. euroSIC is the world champion between 2021 and 2022.
Legend - blue: Growth rates 20/21 - red: Growth rates 21/22
Evolution of the two types of liens
Since the partial revision of the Federal Land Registry and Real Estate Law in 2012, electronic mortgage notes have been available. Meanwhile, the number and value of this type of lien has steadily increased compared to paper mortgage notes. As of this year, all financial institutions in Switzerland can benefit from this liquidity assistance loan from the National Bank.
Legend - dark blue: Number of electronic notes* - lighter blue: Number of paper notes* *managed by SIX **estimate
Proportion of total emissions from different types of invoicing
Legend - red: Disposal - light red: Archiving - light blue: Invoice payment - dark blue: Invoicing
Much Room for Improvement in Europe
SEPA Instant Credit Transfer is the scheme that has formed the basis for processing retail payments via the RT1 and TIPS instant payment systems. Both are seeing a steady increase in the number of transactions. However, with a share of less than 15% of all transfers, instant payments are still not the new norm today. Especially when looking at other international markets such as Hong Kong and Australia, Europe is lagging behind.
Legend - dark blue: instant (RT1/TIPS) - light blue: non-instant (SCT)
Cash in Advanced and Emerging Market Economies
COVID-19 has led to divergent developments in cash usage: A decline in everyday cash payments and, at the same time, an increase in demand for cash. The latter is clearly illustrated in this BIS chart, which shows the ups and downs of the GDP-weighted cash in circulation. What is astonishing is that, at times, Switzerland* deviates considerably from other countries.
y-axis: Percentage annual change of cash in circulation (GDP-weighted), in USD
Legend - dark blue: Switzerland - grey: Advanced economies ** - red: Emerging market economies *** *Due to contractual limitations, meaningful data for Switzerland are only included in this graphic. **Australia, Canada, Switzerland, euro area, United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden and the U.S. ***Argentina, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkey, and South Africa ****The sample includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Singapore, U.S. and South Africa.
The survey on customer payments was thoroughly revised with effect from January 2022. With expanded breakdowns, increased survey frequency and new topics, the revision provides new insights into the structure of customer payments in Switzerland. The August 2022 figures presented here are taken from the Swiss National Bank's data portal, where further data from the revised survey will be posted in the future.
Average Amounts Per Transfer Type
Previously, only transfers in Swiss francs were broken down in a detailed manner. Transfer types are now also indicated in foreign currencies. The figures illustrate that the average amounts of transfers in foreign currencies are in most cases significantly higher than those in francs. However, the volume of payments in foreign currencies is only a fraction of the volume in francs.
Legend - dark blue: CHF - lighter blue: Foreign currencies (converted in CHF)
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