A theoretical as well as empirical research concerning conditions and requisites for the Narrow-banking Plan to come to reality through utilizing the information and communication technology

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Deposit guarantee schemes are one of institutions that make payment and settlement systems safe and secure. But they may cause moral hazards that lead to considerable social costs. Narrow-bank can be thought as one of important alternatives. This scheme, however, is often argued as not being viable because of its weak profit basis. Our research aims at making clear if ICT (information and communication technology) contributes in this respect. Though ICT may enforce the profitability of narrow-banks through making their operation highly efficient, it cannot avoid owing much cost to cover insecurity of the technology yet to be overcome and incredibility and unreliability felt by users. Therefore one of our conclusions at the moment is that narrow-bank comes to reality only when it is supported by a public entity of some kind. Instead of establishing an independent narrow-bank entity, a scheme where a narrow-banking account is held within a existing bank is also thinkable. One of important issues there is to what extent internal cost/revenue compliment from other accounts to the narrow-banking account is permissible and the other issue is whether the coverage by deposit guarantee schemes is limited to the narrow-banking account only. Ultimately most important issue is whose social costs will be smaller when we compare them of deposit guarantee schemes and of narrow-bank plans. We have not empirically cleared this issue yet, and including this point we further have to exam if so-called electronic moneys of any kind also may have a reliable narrow-banking function.