Annual Report on Payment Systems
The Annual Report on Payment Systems contains information that Norges Bank collects from the financialsector as part of its oversight work. The Report has been published since 1988 and gives an annual update of trends and prices in the payment system. The Report also informs about work carried out by Norges Bank and other central banks in this area. The report also gives an account of Norges Bank’s oversight of risk in important payment and settlement systems.
Norges Bank is responsible for promoting robust and efficient payment systems and financial markets, in accordance with the Norges Bank Act and the Act relating to the Payment System. Norges Bank therefore monitors financial institutions, securities markets and payment systems in order to identify any trends that may weaken the stability of the financial system. Pursuant to the Act relating to the Payment System, Norges Bank is responsible for the authorisation and supervision of interbank systems that are important to financial stability. The supervisory function is exercised with the aim of minimising risk in the payment system in particular. Large transfers that result in asset and liability positions between the sender's and beneficiary's banks are carried out via the payment system every day. These positions are then settled in the banks’ accounts in Norges Bank. These banks and the central bank thus constitute the core of the payment system.
Norges Bank also monitors trends that may influence the efficiency of the payment system in Norway and vis-à-vis other countries. In an efficient payment system, payments are effected quickly, securely and at low cost. The most important factors in achieving an efficient payment system in Norway are:
- an infrastructure that facilitates economies of scale,
- prices that reflect the relative differences in the production cost of services and
- effective competition on the supply side
The report is only available on our website.
ISSN 1503-8629 (online). First published: 1988