Unit costs and list prices L is t p ri c e  NOK  U nit c o s t  30  30  25  25  20  20  115 5 110 0 55  rs T ra nsfe  e e qu Ch  in a term  ed  EF TP OS Ow nb ank 's A TM Oth er b a nk 's A W it TM hd r aw als /de pos its  l gir o  ter  as h by c  Gir op a id  Pa  per  -b a s  iro il g Ma  ec oun  oa t th Gir  its  al g ir o  d eb  rmin  Dir e ct  nic te  iro  Ele ctro  PC /Inte  Pho ne g  rne t  00  7. Cost coverage in 1988, 1994 and 2001 1988  2001 Prices  Other  Other  1994  Float  Other  Prices  Prices  Float  Due to changes in banks’ service range, users participate more extensively in the production of payment services and cover some of the costs directly. This applies in particular to the use of terminals, PCs and telephones for bill payment and to cash withdrawals in connection with goods purchases. The survey does not cover customers’ time and travel expenses and expenses related to telephone or PC.
Average prices (weighted by transaction)  2001 NOK 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0  Weighted average price giro transactions  Weighted average price all transactions  94  95  96  97  98  99  00  8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0  01  For most services, customer prices are lower than banks’ unit costs. The exception is giro services at the counter. The unit cost for EFTPOS has declined so that transaction prices nearly covered costs in 2001. Prices have fallen because the transaction volume has increased and costs related to developing and introducing the system have been repaid. The price for using a card in a POS terminal has not risen appreciably in recent years. The unit cost for paying bills over the Internet is still high. This is probably because development and introduction costs are still not repaid and because there is excess capacity in the banks' solutions. Customer prices cover less than one-fourth of the costs reported by banks in connection with this service. It appears that banks are pricing this service on the basis of a long-term strategy that low prices during the introduction phase will encourage customers to use new, more efficient payment instruments earlier. If the pricing strategy actually increases use, it may contribute to increasing efficiency in the payment system in the long term because economies of scale will be exploited at an early stage.