UTJECAJ DIGITALIZACIJE PLATNIH SUSTAVA NA STRUKTURU SUVREMENIH FINANCIJSKIH TRŽIŠTA / THE IMPACT OF PAYMENT SYSTEM DIGITALIZATION ON THE STRUCTURE OF MODERN FINANCIAL MARKETS

Abstract

The motivation for this research was to determine whether payment system digitalization affects only the growth of cashless transactions or also the structural transformation of modern financial markets. The aim of the paper was to empirically examine the relationship between the total value of cashless transactions, the share of card payments, the share of e-money instruments, and the share of credit transfers in European Union countries. The study applies panel analysis to multiple countries over multiple years, using data from the ECB PAY and World Bank databases, processed in Python and organized into a final estimation panel. A composite indicator of digital payment system structuring (DPay_index) was also constructed. The main results show that a higher volume of cashless transactions significantly increases the level of digital system structuring, while economic development has a particularly positive effect on the share of e-money instruments. The significance of the findings lies in confirming that the digitalization of financial markets is not only a quantitative expansion of cashless transactions, but also a qualitative transformation of their internal structure.