The Danish Payments Council

The Danish Payments Council brings together some of the most important players in the payments area in Denmark. They exchange knowledge and views on developments in retail payments in the Danish payment market. This promotes insight and transparency in the market, so citizens and companies can trust that payments are made quickly and safely. Danmarks Nationalbank chairs and provides secretariat services for the Danish Payments Council.


The Danish Payments Council is a forum for collaboration on retail payments in Denmark. The Council was established by Danmarks Nationalbank in 2012 with members from interest groups, companies and authorities with an interest in the Danish payments market. The Council’s objective is to promote the efficiency and safety of retail payments for all parties involved, i.e. citizens, companies, banks etc.

Members of the Danish Payments Council

The Danish Payments Council consists of 13 members, including authorities, interest groups and private companies. All the members have interest in retail payments in common.

Danmarks Nationalbank chairs and provides secretariat services to the Danish Payments Council. In addition, the Council consists of representatives from Copenhagen Fintech, the Danish Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Danish Industry, the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, Finance Denmark, the Danish Consumer Council, Mastercard, Mobilepay, Nets, SMEdenmark and VISA.

Terms of reference for the Danish Payments Council

Danmarks Nationalbank has established a Payments Council to provide a framework for future cooperation on payments made by citizens and companies. The Council’s objective is to promote the efficiency and safety of these payments for all parties involved, i.e. citizens, companies, banks etc. The Council will also contribute to the provision of better statistics for payments in Denmark.

The Council can raise issues at its own initiative and is also available to authorities for analysis of issues of importance to the Danish payments infrastructure. For example, it may address issues such as the development of the common infrastructure for payments and the basic conditions for the use and provision of payment services and products, including international developments. On this basis, the Council can make statements and recommendations that can be implemented by the relevant parties.

A member of Danmarks Nationalbank’s Board of Governors chairs the Council, and Danmarks Nationalbank acts as secretariat. The members of the Council contribute to the work of the secretariat where appropriate. In addition, committees covering specific areas or working groups may be set up to perform specific tasks.

The Payments Council meets twice a year or more frequently as required. Subject to the Council’s approval, reports etc. prepared under the auspices of the Council will be published on Danmarks Nationalbank’s website together with other information about the Council.

Publications from the Danish Payments Council

The Danish Payments Council has regularly published analyses, state-ments and recommendations about the payments area. The Danish Payments Council has, among other things, examined the social costs of payments in Denmark for the most commonly used payment methods used by citizens and companies. The results of the survey as well as other publications from the Danish Payments Council are collected below.

Other publications

Social costs of payments

Social costs are the combined resource costs of the parties involved in a payment. Social costs do not cover transfers between parties, as they are a cost to one party and an income to another. For example, the fee that retailers pay to receive card payments is not included in the social costs.
For payment intermediaries, retailers and companies, the resource costs relate to payroll costs for employees such as cashiers, as well as expenses for equipment, e.g., cash registers and IT systems.
 
For households, the resource costs relate to the opportunity cost of the time spend on a payment. Accordingly, these costs are not out-of pocket expenses for households, but rather a reflection of the value of the time households spend making payments.