to - day transactions, there is still strong demand for banknotes as a store of wealth, with 38 $ 50 banknotes and 18 $ 100 banknotes on issue for every australian ( graph 4 ). graph 3 value of cash withdrawals monthly, seasonally adjusted * $ b $ b atm ( lhs ) 2. 4 1. 8 1. 2 debit card cash outs ( rhs ) 0. 6 * series break between february 2018 and may 2018 due to changes in collection and reporting methodology. source : rba graph 4 banknotes in circulation per capita * no. no. $ 5 $ 10 $ 20 $ 50 $ 100 * calculated using march 2022 population figures and banknotes in circulation as at end - november 2022. sources : abs ; rba while it is pleasing to see merchant payment costs trend lower, three developments are working in the other direction. the first is the shift to higher - cost international scheme debit cards and away from eftpos ; on average, the international debit schemes cost merchants over 20 basis points more to accept than eftpos. the second is the shift to online commerce, where merchants typically face higher payment costs. and the third is the greater use of mobile wallets offered by apple pay, google pay and samsung pay. use of these wallets is growing very quickly and they are often more expensive for merchants to accept ( graph 5 ). graph 5 mobile wallet transactions share of card transactions % % total debit credit m j s d m j s d m j source : rba i would also like to highlight the fact that there are large differences in the payments costs incurred by small and large businesses ( graph 6 ). small businesses, on average, pay twice what large businesses pay to process the same transaction. while economies of scale explain some of this difference, they are not the full story. r e s e r v e b a n k o f au s t r a l i a graph 6 cost of acceptance by merchant size * per cent of value of card transactions, 2020 / 21 % % 1. 5 1. 5 1. 0 1. 0 0. 5 0. 5 0. 0 < $ 100k $ 100k – $ 1m $ 1m – $ 10m > $ 10m 0. 0 merchant size * weighted average. merchant size based on annual value of eftpos, mastercard and visa transactions. source : rba given these various developments, the

these features make the individual operations unattractive to institutional investors, as well as to the issuers themselves. these problems can be overcome, or mitigated, by using suitable operators and techniques to diversify the idiosyncratic risks of debt instruments issued by small and medium - sized enterprises. in italy emerging credit market tensions have led to the launch, in recent months, of several initiatives for investing in bonds, financial paper and loans of unlisted companies, most of them based on the closed - end fund. in general, these credit funds envisage a careful assessment of the issuers and active management of the portfolio over a medium - to - long horizon. the experience of other countries bears out the enormous potential of such funds. 12 securitization is another means of aggregating loans to small firms, helping to facilitate their indirect access to the markets. for banks, this instrument is essential in disposing of part of their assets and freeing up funds for new loans. the success of such initiatives depends on a high level of transparency, enabling final investors to manage the associated credit risk more efficiently than in the case of direct investment in single issues. simple structures, low leverage and limited maturity transformation are essential. in the case of securitizations, there are advantages to be gained from italy ’ s past experience, which has been extremely positive. 13 the super ace would be equivalent to the super dit, which offered listed firms additional incentives with respect to the ordinary dit. see a. franzosi and e. pellizzoni, “ gli effetti della quotazione. evidenza dalle mid & small caps italiane ”, bit notes ( 2005 ) ; g. giudici and s. paleari, “ should firms going public enjoy tax benefits? ”, european financial management ( 2003 ) ; m. geranio and e. garcia, “ come sarebbe l ’ italia con 1. 000 societa quotate? ” ( 2012 ), mimeo, bocconi. the decree on development abolishes the limit on the deductibility of interest payments on bonds and the 20 per cent withholding tax for non - resident holders, banks and institutional investors. the new rules also entail greater transparency for the issuing company as, for the tax benefits to be granted, the securities must be listed ( if they are not listed, they must circulate among qualified investors ). in the