Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of electronic micro-payment market
AU - See-To, Eric W. K.
AU - Jaisingh, Jeevan
AU - Tam, Kar Yan
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Despite the potential of micro-payment systems very few systems have been successful. Little is known about the reasons behind the successful few and the failures of the majority. Micro-payment markets exhibit two-sided network effects and the underlying dynamics of these markets are not very well understood. Based on a stylized model of a two-sided market, we find that a 'survival mass' of merchants and consumers is required for a micro-payment system to exist and a 'critical mass' for the acceptance levels to take off and remain stable. We also find the non-intuitive result that lowering the consumer-side adoption cost will actually reduce the chances for the micro-payment market to develop. Thus, subsidization alone cannot create a micro-payment market. Anecdotal evidence supports this finding. When subsidization is needed, the consumer side will normally be subsidized. The two-sided market structure makes comparative analysis complex and non-trivial, rendering the implementation of micro-payment systems very difficult as indicated by the mixed results of a number of initiatives worldwide.
AB - Despite the potential of micro-payment systems very few systems have been successful. Little is known about the reasons behind the successful few and the failures of the majority. Micro-payment markets exhibit two-sided network effects and the underlying dynamics of these markets are not very well understood. Based on a stylized model of a two-sided market, we find that a 'survival mass' of merchants and consumers is required for a micro-payment system to exist and a 'critical mass' for the acceptance levels to take off and remain stable. We also find the non-intuitive result that lowering the consumer-side adoption cost will actually reduce the chances for the micro-payment market to develop. Thus, subsidization alone cannot create a micro-payment market. Anecdotal evidence supports this finding. When subsidization is needed, the consumer side will normally be subsidized. The two-sided market structure makes comparative analysis complex and non-trivial, rendering the implementation of micro-payment systems very difficult as indicated by the mixed results of a number of initiatives worldwide.
KW - Network effects
KW - Two-sided market
KW - Micro-payment systems
KW - Smart card technology
KW - electronic cash
KW - Game theory
M3 - Journal article
VL - 8
SP - 63
EP - 83
JO - Journal of Electronic Commerce Research
JF - Journal of Electronic Commerce Research
SN - 1938-9027
IS - 1
ER -