Factors of Electronic Payment System's Development: Cross-Country Comparative Analysis

The study investigates the concept of electronic payment systems in the form of a comparative analysis of countries publishing data on the work of EPS and with different level of development of information infrastructure. The main objective of the study – an explanation of the differences in the intensity of use of EPS by the inhabitants of the country through social, technological and economic factors. The basic premise of this study is the fact that a number of empirical studies (in which trust was considered as a key factor) represents the analysis and conclusions only at the level of individual countries, with not a unified sampling framework. To study the cross-country aspect, a factor approach has been proposed, which is a new methodological apparatus, designed to solve the problem of cross-country analysis, using published open statistical databases, as well as a number of articles by well-known and authoritative analytical agencies. During data analysis it was found that for the development of EPS in the country 3 factors are important – social, technological and economic ones. A detailed descriptive analysis of the countries in the context of the generated factors showed features of "portrait" of the countries; the lack of significant differences in the level of Informatization of society and development of e-Commerce. The main attention is paid to the social factor, expressed in the concept of trust. Identified indirect interdependence between the intensity of use of EPS and the level of generalized trust, institutional trust and trust in financial institutions. Higher institutional confidence among people in the country could mean less overall significance and the need to use the EPS; which is counter-conclusion to most studies on this topic. It is expected to consider this study as a source for a more detailed development of methodological and information base or for the further development of the proposed factor approach.