Digital Payments and the Cashless Economy

Woosik Moon analyses the current and future development of digital payments and methods in Korea, ranging from CBDC, internet banking, payment cards, and digital wallets to crypto assets.

Against the backdrop of high Internet penetration and smartphone use, coupled with the widespread diffusion of credit cards, Korea has been leading the digital payment revolution, transforming itself into a cashless society.

Woosik Moon analyses the current and future development of digital payments and methods in Korea, ranging from CBDC, Internet banking, payment cards, and digital wallets to crypto-assets. Moon explores a wide variety of new issues, covering not only digital payments instruments and the digital industry but also the policy actions of the government and the Bank of Korea. He argues that Korea may eliminate coins from circulation through adoption of alternative digital instruments and methods, which is an important transitional stage towards a paper-free cashless society.

Offering a comparative perspective to existing studies of digital payments in US and China, this book will interest researchers and students in the field of monetary economics, financial innovation, and comparative economics.

Autorentext

Woosik Moon is currently a Professor of Economics at the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS), Seoul National University (SNU). He was a member of the Monetary Policy Board, Bank of Korea, from April 2012 to April 2016. His main area of expertise is monetary economics, international finance, and monetary integration. His most recent publications include: Monetary Policy and Central Banking in Korea (Cambridge University Press 2022) and Economic Policy and the Covid-19 Crisis (Routledge 2022).

Inhalt

Introduction 1.The Digitalisation of the Payment and Settlement System 2. Central Bank Digital Currency 3. Account Transfer and Digital Banking 4. Payment Cards 5. Online Investments and De-materialisation 6. The Digital Wallets of Non-financial Firms 7. Crypto-Assets and Tokens. Conclusion: Digital Currency and a Cashless Society