ranking
A study into adoption of electronic payments by governments,
published by Visa, ranks 43 countries in terms of the success
achieved. It seems that although a country’s level of economic
development generally determines the sophistication of its
electronic payment initiatives, this is not always the case.
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Canada has romped home in first place in a study that measures the
extent to which governments in 43 countries provide key payment
services on electronic platforms. The study, Government ePayments
Adoption Ranking (GEAR), was commissioned by Visa Inc and covered
43 countries accounting for a combined 83 percent of the world’s
population and about 91 percent of global economic output.
Canada scored an impressive 92.4, just ahead of the UK in second
place with a score of 92.1. Germany and the US shared third
position with a score of 90.1; the remaining top ten comprised
Sweden (89.6), Australia (88.0), South Korea (86.8), France (86.6),
Hong Kong (86.3), and Singapore in (85.6).
The GEAR study, which was conducted by research company The
Economist Intelligence Unit in conjunction with data specialists F1
Research, used 31 indicators to assess adoption of electronic
payments by governments. These indicators were grouped into four
payment categories: consumer-to-government, government-to-consumer,
business-to-government and government-to-business.
Typical items included in these categories were tax payments and
refunds, social security benefits, government health benefits and
payment for goods and services. The study also assessed electronic
payment infrastructure such as ATMs and POS terminals per 10,000
people, internet availability and use per capita, and mobile phone
use per capita. Also considered were literacy and education levels,
technology savviness of the population, bank use, government
commitment to e-payments and integration of the informal
economy.
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By GlobalDataSuccessful procedures
Canada’s number one ranking was due in large measure to the success
of the government’s comprehensive electronic administration
procedures spearheaded by Service Canada and Netfile, noted the
study’s authors.
Launched in 2005, Service Canada provides a single point of access
to the full range of government services and benefits via the
internet, by phone and in person. The study’s authors pointed out
that Service Canada has implemented a programme to encourage the
use of electronic administration.
Netfile is a service available from February to September each year
that allows Canadians to submit their tax return via the internet.
According to the Netfile website, taxpayers opting for direct
deposit can, in most cases, expect to receive any refund due to
them eight business days from the day they submitted their tax
return. In 2006, 62.4 percent of tax filings were undertaken via
Netfile.
Taken across all countries studied, the survey’s authors noted, the
greatest progress has been made in three areas: taxes and social
contributions, government procurement and automotive payments such
toll fees and fines.
By contrast, the GEAR study found “widespread weaknesses” in four
areas: requests for identity documents/driver’s licences, company
registration, health benefit reimbursement and official loans to
small companies.
Overall, the study found that the range and quality of government
payments services is closely related to indicators such as a
country’s infrastructure bank use, government commitment to
electronic payments and integration of the informal economy. “This
is unsurprising, since a wired government can only relate
electronically to a banked and wired citizenry,” noted the study’s
authors. “All of these indicators are loosely associated with a
nation’s level of development.”
However, they stressed that this is not an iron law. Indeed, some
developed countries did not achieve particularly outstanding
results in the GEAR study. For example, the authors noted that
Japan has a well-developed electronic infrastructure yet ranked
17th with a score of only 66.4. Other countries with relatively
high levels of infrastructure, education and use of banks but whose
governments offer only limited electronic services include the
United Arab Emirates, ranked 31st (score 39.1), and Saudi Arabia,
ranked 38th (20.9).
Further illustrating their point that the level of a country’s
economic development is not always an indicator of the level of
development of government electronic payment services, they noted a
number of developing countries had achieved solid success. One
example was Turkey, which was placed 18th with a score of 61.6.
Positive results have also been achieved by China, ranked 19th
(score 61.1), South Africa, ranked 21st (53.8), and Brazil, ranked
22nd (52.8).
An example of positive strategies, said the authors, was that of
the Brazilian state-owned Social and Economic Development Bank
(SEDB), which offers a loan programme to small businesses in which
loan recipients receive a virtual or cardless credit card account
in place of cash and can use it to purchase business-related items
from selected merchants in an online marketplace.
Because of the benefits electronic payment initiatives such as SEDB
bring in terms of cost and transparency of transactions, “they have
in turn spurred these nations’ [Brazil, China and South Africa]
productive sectors”, said the authors.
