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[taler-docs] branch master updated: Refined text on fee schedule, now re
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gnunet |
Subject: |
[taler-docs] branch master updated: Refined text on fee schedule, now ready to review. |
Date: |
Fri, 08 Jan 2021 19:23:10 +0100 |
This is an automated email from the git hooks/post-receive script.
skuegel pushed a commit to branch master
in repository docs.
The following commit(s) were added to refs/heads/master by this push:
new 4949534 Refined text on fee schedule, now ready to review.
4949534 is described below
commit 4949534b914f41c3b7165bc4eed66b2a169ea282
Author: Stefan Kügel <skuegel@web.de>
AuthorDate: Fri Jan 8 19:20:09 2021 +0100
Refined text on fee schedule, now ready to review.
---
design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst | 50 +++++++++++++++++----------
1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)
diff --git a/design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst
b/design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst
index 256b697..efcebd7 100644
--- a/design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst
+++ b/design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
Fees schedule and fee metrics
-######################################
+#############################
.. warning::
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ Summary
This chapter discusses considerations for fees from different points of view
(Exchange operators, customer/users, and sellers/merchants.
-Introduction
-============
+Motivation
+==========
Fees are necessary for covering costs that Exchange operators bear for
offering their services established in-house or outsourced in a data center:
Variable costs (e.g. electricity and wire fees for every wired transaction to
bank accounts) and expenses of constant height for hardware, company assets,
marketing and staff, and so forth. They will allocate these costs to customers.
The Taler protocol therefore offers different types of fees for each type of
transaction that may appear in t [...]
@@ -19,17 +19,19 @@ Any coin that has been generated or that is used
(deposited) or refreshed can be
Fee types and their underlying metrics are not only due to cover real costs in
the long run, but also to reward users for their economic behaviour, to prevent
misuse, and to allow Exchange operators to gain certain income and most
probably profits. Exchange operators are thus determining the combination of
fee types and the height of each fee for every denomination of coins. Any
chosen denomination (constant nominal value of coins preset by the operator by
means of the Denomination key) [...]
+Proposed Solution
+=================
-1 Fee schedule
+Fee schedule
==============
Whereas the Taler protocol determines types of fees, Exchange operators
determine the upper and lower limits of fees using parameters. Once they have
set the fee height per denomination, the algorithm of the Taler payment system
will allocate costs automatically to every generated coin respectively to a
wired amount.
The fee structure and its underlying metrics are also bound to rules and
expectations of financial regulatory authorities like the German Federal
Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für
Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht BaFin). Changes to the fee structure are
therefore eligible only when they are in accordance with national or
international laws and directives.
-Fees chosen by Exchange operators have to be explained to the users by means
of comprehensive Terms and conditions of services that rule out the different
and heights of fees and how they are calculated. Costs for wired amounts within
the banking system (IBAN transfers to the Exchange's escrow account for the
withdrawal transaction) have to be covered by users, so additionally Terms and
conditions of their banks may be effective, too. These Terms of banking
services are not part of the T [...]
+Fees chosen by Exchange operators have to be explained to the users by means
of comprehensive Terms and conditions of services that rule out the different
and heights of fees and how they are calculated. Costs for wired amounts within
the banking system (IBAN transfers to the Exchange's escrow account for the
withdrawal transaction; IBAN: International Banking Account Number) have to be
covered by users, so additionally Terms and conditions of their banks may be
effective, too. These Ter [...]
-1.1 Obligations of Exchange operators
+1. Obligations of Exchange operators
---------------------------------------
Exchange operators have to adhere to the fee schedule. Otherwise they can lose
their interface access, have their certification revoked and, moreover, even
become liable for damages. For each transaction type there is one specific fee
type. Exchange operators set the height of fees. If a fee type is set to a
value of 0, this fee type will not contribute to the operator's income from
fees.
@@ -48,7 +50,7 @@ Terms and conditions of every Exchange must also clearly
indicate to the user th
A private bank that hosts an Exchange and normally charges its customers for
IBAN transfers has the option of waiving the applying fees for their customers
when they are withdrawing from their own checking accounts into Taler wallets.
-1.2 Buyer's obligations
+2. Buyer's obligations
-----------------------
Prior to making a first withdrawal from an Exchange users are required to read
and confirm the Terms and conditions of the relevant Exchange. This step is
mandatory when changes to Terms and conditions take place. Users accept Terms
and conditions by confirming them in the mobile application or on the web.
Terms and conditions also require users to accept possible losses of funds in
wallets through 'Refresh' fees, which can be eventually charged by Exchange
operators.
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ In accordance with the Terms and conditions, the users agree
not to make any cla
Furthermore, according to the Terms and conditions, users must accept that the
IBAN transfer from the users' personal checking account to the Exchange's
escrow account may incur costs depending on the contract with their banks.
These costs are not related to the Taler payment system and cannot be
influenced by it.
-1.3 Obligations of merchants/sellers
+3. Obligations of merchants/sellers
------------------------------------
Normally, a plurality of buyers' spending transactions is summed up to one
aggregated amount of revenue and wired to the receiving checking account of the
merchant. Merchants can set the frequency by which these aggregated amounts are
wired. Every wire transfer imposes costs on the Exchange operator collected by
the operator's bank for having the amount wired. Therefore, the Exchange
operator will tend to charge the 'Wire fee' to the sellers for this transaction
type, as the sellers are [...]
@@ -68,7 +70,7 @@ During the withdrawal process, the wallet shows to the buyer
the complete fee sc
Given the case that sellers enter incorrect account data for their own
checking account, they are solely liable for any resulting damage and not the
Exchange operator. Sellers bear the risk of a loss of value or even a total
loss of their revenue if they enter a wrong IBAN for the transfer of their
revenue, although syntactically correct. Similarly, the sellers alone bear
charges due to an incorrect receiving account number or other posting errors
that they cause and for which manual rou [...]
-1.4 Technical framework conditions for the collection of fees
+4. Technical framework conditions for the collection of fees
-------------------------------------------------------------
Fees are charged per coin or per wire transfer. The number of coins at
withdrawal usually increases logarithmically with the amount represented. Fees
can be applied to both flow quantities (e.g. coins moved at withdrawal and
deposit transactions) and static quantities (e.g. coins stored in wallets). The
fees on coins may differ depending on the time of issuance of a coin and
depending on the value of a coin. They are fixed for each coin with its time of
issuance, so they cannot be change [...]
@@ -78,7 +80,7 @@ During the entire period of validity, all Denomination keys
and the selected fee
The refresh transaction is automatically triggered by the wallet software 3
months before the end of the validity of a coin. Especially if Exchange
operators charge refresh fees, they have to point out this automatic feature to
the users in their Terms and conditions.
-2 Fee types
+Fee types
===========
The Taler protocol offers the following fee types:
@@ -91,18 +93,18 @@ The Taler protocol offers the following fee types:
c. Abort of transactions due to network failure
d. Refund
4. 'Refund': For refunds or in case of contract cancellation by seller, per
coin
-5. 'Wire fee': For aggregated amounts wired by the Exchange to the merchant's
checking account, per wired transfer
-6. 'Closing': In case that a withdrawal process could not be accomplished (the
users' wallet did not withdraw the value from the reserve), per wired transfer
from the Exchange's escrow account to the account of origin
+5. 'Wire fee': For aggregated amounts wired by the Exchange to the merchant's
checking account, per wire transfer
+6. 'Closing': In case that a withdrawal process could not be accomplished (the
users' wallet did not withdraw the value from the reserve), per wire transfer
from the Exchange's escrow account to the account of origin
-2.1 Effects of fee types on Exchange operators, buyers and sellers
+Effects of fee types on Exchange operators, buyers and sellers
------------------------------------------------------------------
Each of the above fee types is now considered viewed from the perspective of
the buyer, the exchange operator, and the seller:
* 'Withdrawal' from the buyer's point of view:
-Anyone who wants to load Taler wallets with coins must initiate a wired
transfer from the own checking account to the Exchange operator's escrow
account to let the Exchange fund a reserve which can be subsequently withdrawn
by the wallet. Costs for the wired transfer may be incurred according to the
user's contract with the bank. In addition to these potentially incurred costs,
the withdrawal fee could be charged for each coin withdrawn into the wallet.
Even though many bank customers ar [...]
+Anyone who wants to load Taler wallets with coins must initiate a wire
transfer from the own checking account to the Exchange operator's escrow
account to let the Exchange fund a reserve which can be subsequently withdrawn
by the wallet. Costs for the wire transfer may be incurred according to the
user's contract with the bank. In addition to these potentially incurred costs,
the withdrawal fee could be charged for each coin withdrawn into the wallet.
Even though many bank customers are [...]
* 'Withdrawal' from the Exchange operator's point of view:
@@ -158,24 +160,34 @@ As of today's implementation, in the event of a
withdrawal from the purchase agr
* 'Wire fee' from the buyer's point of view:
-This fee only directly affects buyers in the following case: the protocol
allows sellers to partially pass on the cost of the fee to buyers if the
exchange operator that signed buyers' coins set the wire fee fee above the
value that each seller can (but is not required to) enter in its merchant
backend with the max_wire_fee variable. The cost of the wire fee is factored
into the sellers' prices. Sellers could pass on the relative cost benefits of
the Taler payment system to their custome [...]
+This fee is to be paid by the sellers (i.e. merchants or generally all
recipients of coins). The wire fee directly affects buyers only in the
following case: The protocol allows sellers to partially pass on the cost of
the wire fee to buyers if the Exchange operator that signed buyers' coins sets
the wire fee above the value that each seller can define in the merchant
backend via max_wire_fee. It is no secret, though, that all the costs and the
fees are included in retail price tags. At [...]
* 'Wire fee' from the Exchange operator's point of view:
-The wire fee passes on the cost of SEPA postings from the escrow account to
the seller accounts - from the exchange operator to the sellers. Buyers are
only shown the wire fee if the seller does not pay it. Otherwise, customers
don't realize what fee is being withheld from their spent coins at the
exchange. For exchange operators, opting out of the wire fee would be
tantamount to giving sellers carte blanche to trigger a collective booking of
their sales revenue as often as possible. If, [...]
+Exchange operators may charge wire fees in order to cover their expenses for
wiring the value of coins to the beneficiaries. The wire fee passes on the cost
of wire transfers from the Exchange's escrow account to the receiving banking
accounts, and for this usually banks charge handling fees. Buyers are only
shown the wire fee if the seller does not bear them to the full extent. For
Exchange operators, opting out of the wire fee would be tantamount to giving
sellers carte blanche to trig [...]
* 'Wire fee' from the seller's point of view:
-Sellers want to recognize their sales as quickly and often as possible. Timely
revenue recognition improves their liquidity and generates interest income if
sales revenues are received earlier than payments to suppliers. They are
therefore forced to weigh whether they would rather bear higher absolute costs
due to the wire fee or forego liquidity. For some vendors, on the other hand,
the volume of bookings determines the frequency of the collective booking so as
not to overload the accou [...]
+Sellers want to register their sales as quickly and often as possible. Timely
revenue recognition improves their liquidity and generates interest income if
sales revenues are received earlier than payments to suppliers. They are
therefore forced to argue whether they would rather bear higher absolute costs
due to the wire fee or forego liquidity. For some merchants, on the other hand,
the volume of purchases determines the frequency of the aggregated wire
transfer so as not to overload t [...]
* 'Closing' from the buyer's point of view:
-The closing charge is triggered by users of the payment system if, after a
successful SEPA transfer to an Exchange's escrow account, they do not have the
reserve withdrawn to their personal wallet because they do not have the wallet
connected to the Taler exchange within 14 days. Since they are the originators
and incur costs to the Exchange for the re-transfer, they also have to pay the
closing fee. This is done by remitting the original remitted top-up amount
minus the cost of SEPA tra [...]
+The closing charge is triggered by users of the payment system if, after a
successful wire transfer to an Exchange's escrow account, they do not have the
reserve withdraw to their personal wallet. This could be the case when for
example the wallet did not connect to the Taler exchange within 14 days. Costs
incur to the Exchange for the wire transfer back to the originating account.
This is done by remitting the original amount minus the cost of wire transfers
and possibly manual routing. [...]
* 'Closing' from the Exchange operator's point of view:
-Costs for the closing of a reserve are incurred by the Exchange operator due
to irregular user behavior. However, it must not be left to bear these costs,
but must charge them to the user who caused them. The closing fee is
indispensable for exchange operators in order to prevent abuse through cost
driving. Charging and retaining the fee always works smoothly because the
exchange's escrow account has been booked with a bank transfer - and not with a
SEPA direct debit, which could be canc [...]
+Costs for the closing of a reserve are incurred by the Exchange operator due
to irregular user behavior. However, Exchange operators may charge a fee for
covering these costs to the user who caused them. The closing fee is
indispensable for Exchange operators in order to prevent abuse through cost
driving by malicious parties. Charging the fee by retaining it always works
smoothly because the Exchange's escrow account is already in possession of
users' funds through their wire transfers.
* 'Closing' from the seller's point of view:
The closing transaction does not affect sellers in any way.
+
+
+Alternatives
+============
+
+Drawbacks
+=========
+
+Discussion / Q&A
+================
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