Payment Systems in Developing Countries: Lessons for a Small Economy

This paper was presented at the SEACEN Course on Banking Laws and Regulations, mounted at The SEACEN Centre on 7 - 25 November 1994. This paper surveys the major issues in planning and regulating payment systems in developing countries. The focus is on the issues affecting payment systems in small economies. Sections I gives a brief introduction. Section II surveys the scope of basic paper-based and electronic funds transfer (EFT) systems. Section III examines the rationale for planning and the role of the central bank. Section IV surveys the key issues involved in the planning and design of the payment systems, and finally, Section V draws some suggestions and recommendations for developing country central bankers in the design and reform of their payment systems.