Trend and dynamics of card payment system in India

Payment system in India has undergone a dramatic change in recent years. The payment through cards, using both debit and credit cards, is one of the early innovations in the modern payment system in the country. Several intermediaries are involved in the effective functioning of card payment mechanism. As a result, the card payment infrastructure has grown remarkably well across India. The volume of payments made through these devices as well as the value of card payments increased rapidly in the last two decades. Among the commercial banks, the State Bank of India dominates in the maintenance of ATM infrastructure, the issue of cards and in the volume and value of card transaction. The private sector banks dominate in the installation of POS terminals and HDFC bank tops in the POS credit card transaction. However, the recent trend shows that the transaction through cards as a percentage of total retail electronic payments has been declining in India, as other retail payments platforms have become popular.

THE STRATEGY OF INFORMAL SECTOR TRADERS TO FACE PANDEMIC COVID-19 IN MAROS CITY

The informal sector is a sector that has a huge impact during pandemic covid-19, because they cannot do their usual activities. The government’s policy in the form of PSBB restricts their movements to run their business, such as meatball and vegetable seller and who are in the front of the shops. This research described the strategy used by meatball and vegetable sellers during pandemic. The research method used was descriptive qualitative. Data were collected through interview, observation, and library study. The study result showed that during pandemic covid-19, the informal sector traders felt the decrease sales impact of which affected the income of meatball and vegetable traders, thus reducing their trading capital. They were in dilemma for wanting to run business and afraid of being to covid-19. Therefore, the meatball seller dealt by making various efforts so that their family needs are met and their business still survived by changing the marketing system selectively for goods being marketed and changing the debt-payment mechanism.

A Study of Disorganized Regulations in the Cryptocurrency Market and Its Acceptance as a Mode of Exchange

People's working habits, communication styles, shopping habits, and even how they pay for items have all altered as a result of technological advancements. Companies and customers no longer prefer cash. Contactless payments such as Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe are gaining traction in the country. Consumers may pay for things at computerized registers with a quick wave of their smartphone. And now, a new type of payment mechanism is gaining traction: cryptocurrencies. Almost everyone has heard about Bitcoin. It was the first cryptocurrency to gain mainstream acceptance, but other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum are gaining traction. There are almost 2,000 different types of cryptocurrencies, with new ones being created every day. According to a research, the majorities of individuals have heard of cryptocurrencies but do not fully comprehend what it is. So, what exactly is it, is it safe, and how does one go ahead about investing in it? This is exactly what you are going to find out in the following research paper. Keywords: Cryptocurrency, Modes of Exchange, Blockchain, DLT

The Impact of the Private Sector Co-Payment Mechanism (PSCM) on the Private Market for ACTs in Nigeria: Results of the 2018 Cross-sectional Outlet and Household Market Surveys.

BackgroundThe private sector plays a large role in malaria treatment provision in Nigeria. To improve access to, and affordability of, quality-assured artemisinin combination therapies (QA-ACTs) within this sector, the Affordable Medicines Facility - Malaria began operations in 2010 and transitioned to a private sector co-payment mechanism (PSCM) until 2017. To assess the impact of the scheme on the ACT market, cross-sectional household and outlet surveys were conducted in 2018 to coincide with the final stockages of ACTs procured under the PSCM. MethodsAn outlet survey was conducted targeting private pharmacies and Proprietary and Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) across different regions of Nigeria to assess supply-side market factors related to availability and cost of antimalarials, including ACTs subsidised under the PSCM (called green leaf ACTs on account of their green leaf logo) and those not subsidised (non-green leaf ACTs). A concurrent household survey was conducted to determine demand-side factors related to treatment seeking practices, ACT brand preference and purchase decision. Data were compared with previous ACTWatch surveys to consider change over time.ResultsAvailability of ACTs increased significantly over the PSCM period and was almost universal by the time of the 2018 market survey. This increase was seen particularly among PPMVs. While the cost of green leaf ACTs remained relatively stable over time, the cost of non-green leaf ACTs reduced significantly so that by 2018 they had equivalent affordability. Unsubsidised brands were also available in different formulations and dosages, with double-strength ACTs reported as the most frequently purchased dosage type, and child ACTs popular in suspension and dispersible forms (forms not subsidised by the PSCM).ConclusionsThe PSCM had a clear impact on increasing not only the reach of subsidised QA brands, but also of non-subsidised brands. Increased market competition led to innovation from unsubsidised brands and large reductions in costs to make them competitive with subsidised brands. Concerns are drawn from the large market share that non-QA brands have managed to gain as well as the continued market share of oral artemisinin monotherapies. Continued monitoring of the market is recommended, along with improved local capacity for QA-certification and monitoring.

Identification of Key Components of Payment For Ecosystem Services (Pes) Mechanism In Begnas Lake Watershed of Pokhara-Lekhnath Metropolitan City, Nepal

Payment for Ecosystem Service (PES) scheme for certain ecosystem services is being used as a mechanism to provide incentive to suppliers of the services by the beneficiaries. In Nepal, PES like schemes is in practice since a long time, though the discussions on formal PES schemes have recently been started. This study has been carried out at Begnas Lake Watershed (BWS), a Ramsar site, at Pokhara-Lekhnath Metropolitan of Nepal. It aims to understand the perception of local residents towards the implementation of PES scheme in BWS. Furthermore, it also identifies key actors for PES implementation at BWS, their role in PES design and implementation as well as potential payment mechanism for the ecosystem services within the PES scheme at BWS. Finally, institutional structure for PES design and implementation is also presented. The study finds positive perception of local people towards initiating payment mechanism for the use of ecosystem services to ensure environmental conservation and sustainable management of the resources. Both upstream and downstream population favors mix of public/private PES scheme while upstream population favors cash-payment type scheme and downstream population favors the capacity building of upstream communities in conservation efforts. It is also noted that upstream people favor input-based mode of payment and downstream people are inclined towards output-based payments. The study found some ‘PES-like’ practices operational in the watershed. The study recommends the formation of ‘Begnas Watershed PES Advisory and Coordination Committee’ with due participation of identified stakeholders to initiate and institutionalize formal PES mechanism at BWS.

Part III Innovation and Trade-Finance Challengers, 14 Something Old, Something New: Open Account, Prepayment, and Supply Chain Finance

Letters of credit have increasingly come under strain as a payment mechanism in international trade as a result of increased technology, competition, and regulation. At the same time, the letter of credit’s efficiency has reduced over time as a result of its processing costs and speed. The space created by the decline of the letter of credit has been filled by trade parties turning to open account and prepayment terms, whilst using Supply Chain Financing (‘SCF’) techniques to provide the requisite liquidity. The advantages of such payment terms are principally their speed, convenience and cost, all of which the letter of credit increasingly lacks. Accordingly, it is unlikely that this trend towards SCF techniques will abate any time soon. Nevertheless, there are still legal difficulties associated with such payment and liquidity-enhancing techniques, as well as uncertainty associated with the regulatory and accounting treatment of these devices. If open-account trading and SCF techniques are going to eclipse the letter of credit as a payment mechanism, these challenges will have to be addressed.

Calculation of the Visit Costs of Various Services Provider Groups: Improvement of Payment Mechanisms

Background: Initiatives to improve the quality of health services and reduce costs currently have centered around payment mechanisms. In Iran, like many other countries, the outpatient visit costs are paid via fee for service, while real-time visits and other details of provided services are not considered in the tariff setting process. This study attempted to calculate the visit costs of various service provider groups and compared them with tariffs. Methods: In this cross-sectional research, the essential data about different costs were collected from providers' offices, standard time of each visit was achieved from Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, current visit time of service providers was calculated based on health insurance companies' data across the country. After calculating the standard and current visit costs through the activity-based costing technique, main determinants of costs (major cost centers) were specified for use in probably future weighted tariffs in fee for service payment mechanism. Results: The greatest difference between standard and the current number of visits was found in the Sub-specialist physician group (6784 in a year), and the greatest difference was between standard and current cost of visits in sub-specialist psychiatrists (126703 IRR). Staffing and rental cost centers account for the highest share of total visit cost (87 %). Conclusion: This study demonstrated a significant difference between the current and standard visit costs with tariffs. Therefore, it is essential that policymakers improve the payment mechanism by modifying the visit tariffs for medical service providers. One suggestion in this way is using domestic relative value units according to costing research results.

Shadow economy and attempts to combat it — split payment as a remedy for previous legal regulations

The main goal of this article is to present the methods of effectively combating the grey area (called the shadow economy by the author) against the background of the changes introduced by the legislator in the form of split payment, as an institution that is to replace the not necessarily successful previous regulations related to reverse payment and joint and several liability. The first part — dealing with the grey economy — presents the basic facts on this topic. Attempts will be made to define this phenomenon, analyze its structure and the factors determining the formation of the shadow economy. This will be crowned with a multidimensional assessment, both in terms of micro and macroeconomics. The second part of the work will present split payment, which is to be a revolution in closing the tax gap. The tools that the split payment mechanism has “absorbed” due to their inefficiency will also be briefly discussed. Additionally, the article will present the history of this tool — both in the international arena and in Poland, where the optional form of split payment was initially in force, and currently, under certain conditions, it is also mandatory. The compulsory use of this tool is the subject of numerous discussions as it negatively affects the financial liquidity of entrepreneurs, which will also be analyzed and assessed. Taxpayers’ demands regarding changes in the split payment mechanism, especially in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, will also be presented. The dogmatic-legal and legal-comparative methods, as well as the opinions of the entrepreneurs themselves, will be used to achieve this research goal.