ABSTRACT
At the heart of the study of payment systems lies a contradiction. Mere mention of the words ‘payment systems’ to an economist tends to conjure up images of an obscure and rather technical sub-discipline – or perhaps even backwater – of the profession. This backwater is believed to be inhabited by a small and rather reclusive set of fanatics. This tribe uses tools and a language of their own and spends its time studying issues that are well outside the mainstream.
