Payment data, information disclosure, and privacy

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Research question and motivation: Digital payments generate vast, high-frequency, transaction-level data that several central banks (Bank of Canada, Swiss National Bank, Eurosystem members) already use for nowcasting, and regulatory initiatives (the EU’s PSD2, the UK’s Open Banking Standard, prospective CBDCs) are broadening system-wide data access. The paper asks how improved aggregate-demand forecasts enabled by payment data affect economic activity and through which channels; what the optimal communication policy for disseminating such forecasts is and how it depends on the monetary-policy stance; whether a competitive market in which private banks produce and sell forecasts is socially optimal; and how privacy concerns over individual transaction data affect optimal policy.

Zijian Wang | Macro Paper Warehouse

Payment data, information disclosure, and privacy