The Book of Payments ─ Historical and Contemporary Views on the Cashless Society

This book examines the nature of retail financial transaction infrastructures. Contributions assume a long-term outlook in their exploration of the key financial processes and systems that support a global transition to a cashless economy. The volume offers both modern and historic accounts that demonstrate the constantly changing role of payment instruments. It brings together different theoretical approaches to the study, re-examining and forecasting changes in retail payment systems. Chapters explore a global transition to a cashless society and contemplate future alternatives to cash, cheques and plastic, featuring the perspectives of academics from different disciplines in conversation and industry participants from six continents. Readers are invited to discover the innovation in payment systems and how it co-evolves with changes in society and organisations through personal, corporate and governmental processes.

Bernardo Batiz-Lazo?read economics at ITAM, Mexico, and Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain; history at the University of Oxford, UK, ?and received a doctorate in business administration from Manchester Business School, UK). He has been studying financial markets and institutions since 1988. He joined the University of Bangor as Professor of Business History and Bank Management after appointments in Leicester, UK; the Open University, UK, ?and Queen's University of Belfast, Ireland. He has combined full time appointments with consulting and executive training in Europe, the Gulf states, Latin America and Asia. Bernardo has written over 35 refereed articles, 3 books and 8 distance learning books. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, research associate of Fundacion Estudios Financieros (Fundef – ITAM), and edits a weekly report on new working papers? in payments and financial technology (see http://lists.repec.org/mailman/listinfo/nep-pay).