1、Connecting Digital Economies: Policy Recommendations for Cross-Border Payments I N S I G H T R E P O R T J U N E 2 0 2 0 Contents Foreword Executive summary Introduction 1 Barriers to supplying payment services 1.1 Domestic infrastructure/processing requirements 1.2 Forced data localization 1.3 Lice

2、nsing and equity requirements for foreign firms 1.4 Recommendations: Best practices, initiatives and next steps 2 Standards and interoperability 2.1 Uneven adoption of international standards creates cross-border friction 2.2 Recommendations: Best practices, initiatives and next steps 3 Security and

3、 trust 3.1 Rising fraud and cyber-risks 3.2 Regulations on cybersecurity 3.3 Diverging authentication/security standards 3.4 Recommendations: Best practices, initiatives and next steps 4 Innovation enabling oversight 4.1 Lack of international coordination on retail payment supervision 4.2 Recommenda

4、tions: Best practices, initiatives and next steps Conclusion Contributors Endnotes 3 4 6 8 9 10 11 11 14 15 16 20 21 22 22 23 25 26 26 29 30 31 World Economic Forum 91-93 route de la Capite CH-1223 Cologny/Geneva Switzerland Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212 Fax: +41 (0)22 786 2744 Email: contactweforum.org

5、www.weforum.org 2020 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. 2 Connecting Digital Economies Foreword Digital trade is

6、 more important than ever. While the COVID-19 crisis has cast a long shadow over the future of international trade in traditional goods and services, it has also demonstrated the resilience of a digitized economy and will accelerate the digital transformation of the global economy in the coming year

7、s. Digital payments are at the centre of this transformation, connecting merchants and consumers around the world and enabling new avenues for global commerce. Thanks to new technologies and platforms, todays consumers are no longer constrained to buying from stores in their immediate community, cit

8、y or even in their own country. Given this unprecedented level of interconnectedness, it is no wonder cross-border e-commerce now accounts for the fastest-growing segment in cross-border payments. This is especially important for developing markets looking to connect small businesses and microenterp

9、rises to the global economy with the fewest complications or friction as possible. As more businesses and consumers adopt digital payments, policy-makers and regulators have an important role in ensuring payment services remain competitive, seamless and secure. Though it is easier than ever before t

10、o pay and be paid around the world, significant challenges loom on the horizon. Market barriers, diverging standards, security threats and a lack of coordination on cross- border oversight all threaten future growth in the digital economy. This report examines these issues and provides policy-makers

11、 with concrete solutions to streamline cross-border payments and promote digital trade in furtherance of their efforts to foster inclusive economic growth. This report is part of the World Economic Forums broader work on digital payments, which supports inclusive growth in the digital economy. The w

12、ork explores ways to encourage financial inclusion, digital payment acceptance and global interoperability, covering existing and emerging technologies, including digital currencies. Through this effort, the Forum recognizes the importance of bringing the public and private sectors together to accel

13、erate the benefits of the digital economy. This report was produced by the Platform for Shaping the Future of Trade and Global Economic Interdependence. Connecting Digital Economies: Policy Recommendations for Cross-Border Payments June 2020 Demetrios Marantis Senior Vice-President, Global Governmen

14、t Engagement, Visa, USA Richard Samans Managing Director, World Economic Forum Policy Recommendations for Cross-Border Payments 3 Executive summary 4 Connecting Digital Economies The current COVID-19 public health crisis will only accelerate digital trade and cross-border e-commerce as physical comm

15、erce contracts and digital commerce expands. The rapid expansion of access to digital payments has made it possible for consumers to conveniently make purchases for goods and services from merchants around the world. The current COVID-19 public health crisis will only accelerate digital trade and cr

16、oss-border e-commerce as physical commerce contracts and digital commerce expands. However, significant challenges for digital trade and cross-border payments persist, providing an opportunity for policy-makers and regulators worldwide to reduce friction and improve connections between digital econo

17、mies globally. This report builds on past World Economic Forum research and leverages the Forums extensive community of payment experts in order to move beyond the challenges and provide governments with concrete recommendations to promote inclusive growth in the digital economy. Each recommendation

18、 addresses its respective challenge as follows: Barriers to supplying payment services The challenge: A growing number of protectionist measures, such as domestic infrastructure requirements, forced data localization, and licensing and equity requirements for foreign service firms, prevent internati

19、onal payment service providers from bringing services to market. Additionally, these measures keep domestic providers from expanding abroad, which is essential for firms that want to bring their services to scale. Recommendations Provide, reinforce and/or extend “national treatment” for digital paym

20、ent service providers Support commitments to protect the free flow of data while ensuring regulatory access to data Create a “reference paper” on payment services at the World Trade Organization Explore creating regional payment councils to bring the public and private sectors together Standards and

21、 interoperability The challenge: The cross-border payment landscape is more competitive and complex than ever but diverging regulatory and technical standards have increased friction in making payments. Recommendations Explore digital trade agreements to promote greater interoperability Establish op

22、en banking guidelines to spur competition and innovation Adopt international standards for public infrastructure Adopt Financial Action Task Force standards Work with the international community when developing new standards for new technologies and regulatory regimes Security and trust The challeng

23、e: Cross-border payments are disproportionately targeted by fraud and cybersecurity threats, and small businesses are particularly vulnerable. Furthermore, many policies to improve cybersecurity and trust are either ineffective or counterproductive. Recommendations Establish public-private partnersh

24、ips on cybersecurity Encourage law enforcement cooperation and modernize mutual legal assistance treaties Encourage cyber hygiene through government- led programmes Work with the private sector to establish important consumer protections Innovation enabling oversight The challenge: The adequate supe

25、rvision and oversight of payment systems is integral to the safety and security of the financial system. However, the oversight for firms operating in multiple markets is often disjointed and uncoordinated, leading to inefficiencies and reduced competition. Recommendation Explore bilateral, regional

26、 and multilateral oversight coordination Dynamics in cross-border payments are rapidly changing, creating a network of mutually independent but highly interconnected networks. This report finds that the challenges facing cross- border payments are also highly interdependent and, therefore, holistic

27、reforms are needed to ensure competition and reduce friction. Policy Recommendations for Cross-Border Payments 5 Introduction Digital payments are at the centre of digital trade 6 Connecting Digital Economies Today, merchants of varying sizes can easily sell products to consumers around the world. A

28、s cross-border e-commerce expands rapidly (Figure 1), it is increasingly becoming an important component of international trade. The current COVID-19 crisis will likely accelerate this expansion, as trade in goods and physical commerce retreat and digital services advance. Digital payments are at th

29、e centre of digital trade growth and serve as the key enabling factor for digital commerce. The rapid expansion of access to digital payments has made it possible for consumers to conveniently make purchases for goods and services from merchants globally and for merchants to sell to the world far mo

30、re easily and cheaply than ever before. With a few clicks and identity verification, consumers and merchants can set up accounts to send or receive money worldwide. In addition to enabling cross-border digital commerce, a growing body of research suggests digital payments are important to the health

31、 of the broader domestic economy. Recent studies have shown that digital payments overall increase economic efficiency, reduce crime and corruption, and support transitions away from the informal economy.1 For instance, a 2017 Moodys Analytics study estimates that digital payment usage “contributed

32、an additional $296 billion to consumption between 2011 and 2015, or a 0.1% cumulative increase in global GDP during the sample time period”.2 Despite the importance of digital retail payments to cross-border commerce, significant logistical and governance challenges persist. Cross-border payments ar

33、e inherently complicated and require moving funds through different entities and jurisdictions with differing rules and regulations while mitigating a wide range of risks, from fraud and cybersecurity attacks, to liquidity and foreign exchange volatility. However, while facilitating cross- border pa

34、yments may never be simple, there is significant room for improving efficiency. Today, many policy-makers are working with industry to address challenges facing cross-border payments, but additional work is needed. While significant focus has been placed on leveraging new technologies and updating i

35、nfrastructure (e.g. clearing and settlement systems), the main challenge is a lack of coherent interoperability between regulatory and technical systems. The future of payments does not lie in siloed systems: making payments today requires a vast network of mutually independent networks that connect

36、 consumers, merchants, financial institutions, mobile applications, international and domestic payment networks, clearing and settlement systems, digital currencies, and other important parts of the payments ecosystem. This growing network of participants has made the payment industry more competiti

37、ve than ever, but each connection between participants also presents an opportunity for friction. Building on the World Economic Forums past research (most notably the 2018 paper “Addressing E-Payment Challenges in Global E-Commerce”3) and leveraging the Forums extensive community of payment experts

38、, this report examines the key challenges facing cross-border retail payments and provides recommendations for policy-makers to overcome them. In working with this community of experts, this report finds that to efficiently facilitate cross- border retail payments between businesses and consumers ar

39、ound the world, policy-makers need to address four key areas: market barriers, interoperability, security and oversight. This report is thus organized into these four categories, addressing challenges and recommending solutions in each section. 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 Global online sho

40、ppers (million), 20152017 201520162017 Non-cross-borderCross-border 163 200 1,003 1,065 277 915 1,078 1,202 1,342 The rapid expansion of cross-border e-commerce, 2015-2017FIGURE 1 Source: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCATD), “Global e-commerce sales surged to $29 trillion”, 2

41、9 March 2019, https:/unctad. org/en/pages/newsdetails. aspx?OriginalVersionID=2034 Policy Recommendations for Cross-Border Payments 7 Barriers to supplying payment services 1 Modern trade commitments are needed to address growing barriers 8 Connecting Digital Economies As outlined in the World Econo

42、mic Forums paper “Addressing E-Payment Challenges in Global E-Commerce”, World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on the cross-border supply of digital payments (or “electronic payment services”) are found in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and its Annex on financial services. The Anne

43、x and subsequent WTO panels define electronic payment services as “all payment and money transmission services” and “all services essential to payment and money transmission, all means of payment and money transmission (i.e. paper-based, card-based and others), and all associated business models”.6

44、General commitments (for all WTO members) require members to treat all foreign suppliers of payment services equally. Specific commitments (for WTO members who have agreed to additional market access) include market access and/or non-discrimination of foreign supplier (national treatment) for cross-

45、border supply (Mode 1) and establishing commercial presence (Mode 3). WTO member commitments under GATS on payment services are limited and patchy.7 For example, only 53 WTO members have fully or partially liberalized the cross-border supply of “payment and money transmission services”.8 Currently,

46、only 18% of WTO members have full cross-border supply commitments (Mode 1) for all payment and money transmission services, and only 14% have full commercial presence commitments (Mode 3).9 Increasingly, governments are establishing significant market barriers affecting payment service providers, of

47、ten in the name of security and privacy concerns. These barriers come in the form of domestic processing mandates, discriminatory licensing, foreign equity caps and forced local data-residency requirements (a concept known as “data localization”). While sometimes well intentioned, these policies oft

48、en exacerbate the issues they were meant to address, with other unintended consequences. Market barriers have a significant impact on firms and their ability to provide cross-border payment services because they prevent economies of scale, which are critical given the initial investments in processi

49、ng and data storage facilities, as well as compliance with complex regulatory and operational standards. Firms reaching scale can maximize their initial investments and reduce transaction costs,4 which is especially difficult for businesses operating in small and developing markets to achieve without being able to expand abroad. The 2017 Global Payments Innovation Jury report, a global survey of industry executives, found that the “inability to scale” was the biggest factor (26%) for why payment start-ups fail, followed closely by “regula