[taler-docs] branch master updated: Including the remainder of corrections to the Design document 012 'Fee schedule'

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The following commit(s) were added to refs/heads/master by this push:
     new 1f3cc8d  Including the remainder of corrections to the Design document 
012 'Fee schedule'
     new 6a976e7  Merge branch 'master' of ssh://git.taler.net/docs
1f3cc8d is described below

commit 1f3cc8db0eb61d9cac8c00433cda58d122771eb4
Author: Stefan Kügel <skuegel@web.de>
AuthorDate: Tue Jan 12 18:47:24 2021 +0100

    Including the remainder of corrections to the Design document 012 'Fee 
schedule'
---
 design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst | 109 +++++++++++++-------------
 1 file changed, 55 insertions(+), 54 deletions(-)

diff --git a/design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst 
b/design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst
index 506833b..612393d 100644
--- a/design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst
+++ b/design-documents/012-fee-schedule-metrics.rst
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ 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 transfer to bank 
accounts) and fixed-cost expenditures 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 the tran [...]
 
-Any coin that has been generated or that is used (deposited) or refreshed can 
be charged with an applicable fee type. In addition to this, every wired amount 
of money can be charged with a wire fee. The six fee types are named as 
'Withdrawal', 'Deposit', 'Refresh', 'Refund', 'Wire fee' and 'Closing'. The fee 
type 'Closing' is used for allocating costs that arise from an uncompleted 
withdrawal transaction when an amount of fiat money has to be wired back from 
the Exchange's escrow account [...]
+Any coin that has been generated or that is used (deposited) or refreshed can 
be charged with an applicable fee type. In addition to this, every wired amount 
of money can be charged with a wire fee. The six fee types are named as 
**Withdrawal**, **Deposit**, **Refresh**, **Refund**, **Wire fee** and 
**Closing**. The fee type 'Closing' is used for allocating costs that arise 
from an uncompleted withdrawal transaction when an amount of fiat money has to 
be wired back from the Exchange's es [...]
 
 Fee types and their underlying metrics are intended not only 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 determine the combination of 
fee types and the amount 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 ke [...]
 
@@ -24,16 +24,16 @@ Proposed Solution
 
 The Taler protocol offers the following fee types:
 
-1. 'Withdrawal': For each successful withdrawal from the checking account, per 
coin
-2. 'Deposit': For spending, per coin
-3. 'Refresh': Per coin for
+1. **Withdrawal**: For each successful withdrawal from the checking account, 
per coin
+2. **Deposit**: For spending, per coin
+3. **Refresh**: Per coin for
     a. Refresh transactions for receiving change
     b. Refresh of coins at the end of their validity
     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 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
+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 wire transfer
+6. **Closing**: In case a withdrawal process could not be accomplished (the 
user's wallet did not withdraw the value from the reserve), per wire transfer 
from the Exchange's escrow account to the account of origin
 
 Fee schedule
 ============
@@ -55,20 +55,20 @@ The 'Recoup' protocol does not allow Exchange operators to 
set any fee amount, b
 
 Setting all of the six fee types to 0 means would simplify the payment system 
and make it more attractive to users. However, Exchange operators need 
effective counter-measures against possible misuse. Transactions that are 
abundantly often repeated by malicious users drive up costs, thus harming 
operators. Making these transactions costly to those who trigger them 
intentionally is the only way to solve this issue.
 
-For example, if the Exchange operator sets the 'Refresh' fee at the level of 
the specific costs incurred for this transaction type, malicious cost driving 
with refresh at least does not damage the exchange, but only charges those 
users who have their coins refreshed particularly frequently (see detailed 
below).
+For example, if the Exchange operator sets the 'Refresh' fee at the level of 
the specific costs incurred for this transaction type, malicious cost driving 
with refresh at least does not damage the exchange, but only charges those 
users who have their coins refreshed particularly frequently (see details 
below).
 
-Operators agree that their audit reports report income from fees to the 
auditors and, accordingly, to the supervisory authorities. Fees on coins at set 
the time they are issued and cannot be changed afterwards. According to the 
Taler protocol, fees on bank transfers can only be adjusted annually and are 
set by the operator for at least 2 years in the future. Thanks to this constant 
fee, merchants can better plan costs to be added and include them in their 
sales prices.
+Operators agree that their audit reports report income from fees to the 
auditors and, accordingly, to the supervisory authorities. Fees on coins are 
set the time they are issued and cannot be changed afterwards. According to the 
Taler protocol, fees on bank transfers can only be adjusted annually and are 
set by the operator for at least 2 years in the future. Thanks to this constant 
fee, merchants can better plan costs to be added and include them in their 
sales prices.
 
 Terms and conditions of every Exchange must also clearly indicate to the user 
that if they refuse to save copies of their Taler coins (with a backup tool 
like e.g. "Anastasis") they are risking a total loss of coin ownership.
 
-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.
+A private bank that hosts an Exchange and normally charges its customers for 
IBAN transfers has the option of waiving the applicable fees for their 
customers when they withdraw from their own checking accounts into Taler 
wallets.
 
 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.
+Prior to making the 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.
 
-All charge types and amounts are displayed to users prior to each withdrawal. 
Specific transaction-related transaction fees that users would have to pay are 
always displayed by the wallet as part of the interactive transaction process. 
Wire fees are also shown to the users. The fee type 'Wire fee' allows merchants 
(sellers) to split the charged amount when they deem an Exchange's wire fee to 
be too high and pass on the split charge to buyers and bear the remainder. The 
respective amount  [...]
+All charge types and amounts are displayed to users prior to each withdrawal. 
Specific transaction-related transaction fees that users would have to pay are 
always displayed by the wallet as part of the interactive transaction process. 
Wire fees are also shown to the users. The fee type 'Wire fee' allows merchants 
(sellers) to split the charged amount when they deem an Exchange's wire fee to 
be too high and pass on the split charge to buyers, bearing the remainder. The 
respective amount  [...]
 
 In accordance with the Terms and conditions, the users agree not to make any 
claim for damages against the payment system or the Exchange operator due to 
losses incurred by them as a result of theft or self-inflicted failure to 
secure the coins in the Taler wallet.
 
@@ -81,107 +81,108 @@ Normally, a plurality of buyers' spending transactions is 
summed up to one aggre
 
 During the withdrawal process, the wallet shows to the buyer the complete fee 
schedule and indicates the 'Wire fee' in case this fee is really charged. 
However, if a seller takes over the wire fee charge instead of the customers, 
the customers' wallets will no longer show a wire fee for that seller. These 
sellers thus render the fee schedule clearer for their customers, but certainly 
will have the wire fee calculated with their sales prices.
 
-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 [...]
+Sellers who enter incorrect account data for their own checking account 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 routing becomes necessary [...]
 
 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 [...]
+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 at its time of 
issuance, and cannot be changed subs [...]
 
 During the entire period of validity, all Denomination keys and the selected 
fee types shall remain valid. Each fee type is always managed as a variable in 
the exchange interface even if the amount is 0 units.
 
-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.
+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.
 
 
 Effects of fee types on users: Buyers, Exchange operators, and sellers
 ======================================================================
 
-Each of the above mentioned fee types is now considered viewed from the 
perspective of the buyer, the exchange operator, and the seller:
+We now consider each of the fee types, viewed from the perspective of the 
buyer, the Exchange operator, and the seller:
 
-* 'Withdrawal' from the buyer's point of view:
+* **Withdrawal** from the buyer's point of view:
 
-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  [...]
+Anyone who wants to load Taler wallets with coins must initiate a wire 
transfer from their 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 ar [...]
 
-* 'Withdrawal' from the Exchange operator's point of view:
+* **Withdrawal** from the Exchange operator's point of view:
 
-A fee on each coin generated would indeed hit all electronic coins withdrawn 
from an exchange operator and allocate costs necessary for their generation 
over all coins signed for the first time, but would not prevent abuse through 
other transactions like intentionally often triggered refresh or refund and 
would also discriminate against those users who withdraw and deposit many 
smaller denominations. Furthermore, buyers using coins with higher 
denominations could increase the exchange op [...]
+A fee on each coin generated would indeed affect all electronic coins 
withdrawn from an exchange operator and allocate costs necessary for their 
generation over all coins signed for the first time, but would not prevent 
abuse through other transactions like intentionally often-triggered refresh or 
refund, and would also discriminate against those users who withdraw and 
deposit many smaller denominations. Furthermore, buyers using coins with higher 
denominations could increase the exchang [...]
 
-* 'Withdrawal' from the seller's point of view:
+* **Withdrawal** from the seller's point of view:
 
 While withdrawal fees do not burden sellers, withdrawal fees are imposing a 
threshold for their customers (see argumentation above). Sellers would even 
prefer to include the costs of generating coins in their selling prices and 
hide it from customers. However, the coins generated for customers during the 
withdrawal process do not correspond with the sellers in any way.
 
-* 'Deposit' from the buyer's point of view:
+* **Deposit** from the buyer's point of view:
 
-Although customers are triggering the deposit request to finalize their 
purchase, it is always the seller who has to bear the deposit fee per coin - 
but only up to a maximum value determined by the seller (using the variable 
default_max_deposit_fee). The remainder of the deposit fee exceeding this 
maximum value has to be paid by the respective buyer. Deposit fees could 
theoretically be used to distribute all costs that Exchange operators have to 
bear. This would mean that all costs will  [...]
+Customers give a merchant the right to deposit coins in return for 
merchandise, and sellers trigger the deposit request. It is always the seller 
who has to bear the deposit fee per coin - but only up to a maximum value 
determined by the seller (using the variable ``default_max_deposit_fee``). The 
remainder of the deposit fee exceeding this maximum value has to be paid by the 
respective buyer. Deposit fees could theoretically be used to distribute all 
costs that Exchange operators have to [...]
 
-* 'Deposit' from the Exchange operator's point of view:
+* **Deposit** from the Exchange operator's point of view:
 
 During deposit, the Exchange logic compares the public key of each coin with 
the keys stored in an array in the Exchange's Postgres database and examines 
each coin to determine whether it is redeemed for payment for the first time. 
This process consumes little energy and adds no additional cost. For Exchange 
operators, this marginally small cost factor can only become significant when 
there is a very high amount of deposit transactions to encounter (e.g. at large 
web-shops). Deposit fees [...]
 
-* 'Deposit' from the seller's point of view:
+* **Deposit** from the seller's point of view:
 
-If an Exchange operator charges relatively high deposit fees, sellers have a 
means to correlate the fee amount. As pointed out before, a seller must bear 
deposit fees, but only up to the maximum determined by the variable 
default_max_deposit_fee, which every seller specifies individually.
+If an Exchange operator charges relatively high deposit fees, sellers have a 
means to set a boundary for the deposit fee amount and split it in two amounts. 
As pointed out before, a seller must bear deposit fees, but only up to the 
maximum determined by the variable ``default_max_deposit_fee``, which every 
seller specifies individually.
 
-Deposit fees will also affect refund transactions, for example when a rebate 
is given by the seller to the customer. Only in the case of a complete 
withdrawal from the contract by the seller the refund transaction exempts the 
buyers from deposit fees. Then, the refund transaction incurs the refresh fee 
only that would be borne by the buyers. If the seller's refund is partly, only 
the seller's deposit fee is waived, which means from the buyer's perspective a 
partly refunded purchase with  [...]
+Deposit fees will also affect refund transactions, for example when a rebate 
is given by the seller to the customer. Only in the case of a complete 
withdrawal from the contract by the seller does the refund transaction exempt 
the buyer from the deposit fee. In that case, the refund transaction incurs the 
'Refresh' fee portion borne by the buyers. If the seller's refund is partial, 
only the seller's deposit fee is waived, which means from the buyer's 
perspective a partially refunded purch [...]
 
-Generally, sellers want to ensure that
-(1) the exchange selected by the buyers complies with the regulatory 
requirements of the supervisory authorities (e.g. BaFin) and with anti-money 
laundering laws (AML), 
-(2) if paying is in EURO the exchange operates in the SEPA currency area, and 
+Generally, sellers want to ensure that:
+(1) the exchange selected by the buyers complies with the regulatory 
requirements of the supervisory authorities (e.g. BaFin) and with anti-money 
laundering laws (AML); 
+(2) if paying is in EUR, the exchange operates in the SEPA currency area; and 
 (3) the fees of the selected exchange are within the limits of what the seller 
sets using its maximum deposit fee values (and wire fee maximum values as 
described below). 
 
-* 'Refresh' from the buyer's point of view:
+* **Refresh** from the buyer's point of view:
 
-Refresh fees are mostly caused by the generation of fresh coins as change for 
a coin of higher denomination that was redeemed for a smaller price that had to 
be paid: The payment amount was paid with a coin of a higher denomination, 
subsequently the wallet receives coins with denominations that add up to the 
difference. The refresh fee for the change booking is therefore only ever 
charged for one coin used and is marginally low from the buyer's point of view. 
Refresh also occurs together [...]
+Refresh fees are mostly caused by the generation of fresh coins as change for 
a coin of higher denomination that was redeemed for a smaller price that had to 
be paid: The payment amount was paid with a coin of a higher denomination, 
subsequently the wallet receives coins with denominations that add up to the 
difference. The 'Refresh' fee for the change booking is therefore only ever 
charged for one coin used and is marginally low from the buyer's point of view. 
Refresh also occurs togeth [...]
 
-* 'Refresh' from the Exchange operator's point of view:
+* **Refresh** from the Exchange operator's point of view:
 
-As long as there is no abuse with refresh transactions, the Exchange operator 
has to consider whether to pass on the costs for refreshes directly to the 
buyers or to cover these costs with another type of fee. Using the refresh fee 
to cover costs subsequent to intentional abuse means that the originator of 
malicious refreshes charges all buyers of a targeted Exchange for their regular 
refresh bookings. While this does not prevent abuse itself, it only makes the 
transaction type 'Refresh' [...]
+As long as there is no abuse with refresh transactions, the Exchange operator 
has to consider whether to pass on the costs for refreshes directly to buyers 
or to cover these costs with another type of fee. Using the 'Refresh' fee to 
cover costs subsequent to intentional abuse means that the originator of 
malicious refreshes charges all buyers of a targeted Exchange for their regular 
refresh bookings. While this does not prevent abuse itself, it only makes the 
transaction type 'Refresh' c [...]
 
-* 'Refresh' from the seller's point of view:
+* **Refresh** from the seller's point of view:
 
-Refresh transactions do not directly affect sellers, but the refund 
transaction does (see below here).
+Refresh transactions do not directly affect sellers, but the refund 
transaction does (see below).
 
-* 'Refund' from the buyer's point of view:
+* **Refund** from the buyer's point of view:
 
-In contrast to the refresh fee type, the sellers - and not the buyers - are 
triggering the refund booking. If an Exchange charges the refund fee type, the 
already deposited coins of the buyers would be charged with this fee in case of 
a partial refund due to discounting after the conclusion of the purchase 
contract. Only in case of a full refund, the coins of the buyers will be 
relieved from deposit fees, but then they will be charged with the refresh fee, 
if the fee schedule of the Exch [...]
+In contrast to the 'Refresh' fee type, the sellers -- and not the buyers -- 
trigger the refund booking. If an Exchange charges the 'Refund' fee type, the 
already deposited coins of the buyers would be charged with this fee in case of 
a partial refund due to discounting after the conclusion of the purchase 
contract. Only in case of a full refund, the coins of the buyers will be 
relieved from deposit fees, but then they will be charged with the 'Refresh' 
fee, if the fee schedule of the Exc [...]
 
-* 'Refund' from the Exchange operator's point of view:
+* **Refund** from the Exchange operator's point of view:
 
-Exchange operators cannot suppress refund postings because they must allow 
sellers to discount and cancel purchase contracts. A partial refund only 
partially relieves buyers of their deposit fees. Over time, customers are more 
likely to avoid such sellers who often have to discount after a contract is 
signed. Sellers who repeatedly trigger complete refunds, while exempting 
buyers' coins already deposited with the exchange from deposit fees, burden 
them with refresh fees. Should an Exchan [...]
+Exchange operators cannot suppress refund postings because they must allow 
sellers to discount and cancel purchase contracts. A partial refund only 
partially relieves buyers of their deposit fees. Over time, customers are more 
likely to avoid such sellers who often have to discount after a contract is 
signed. Sellers who repeatedly trigger complete refunds, while exempting 
buyers' coins already deposited with the exchange from deposit fees, burden 
them with 'Refresh' fees. Should an Exch [...]
 
-* 'Refund' from the seller's point of view:
+* **Refund** from the seller's point of view:
 
-As of today's implementation, in the event of a withdrawal from the purchase 
agreement, buyers bear the cost of the refund fee if the exchange charges it; 
in the event of a partial rebate, buyers bear the deposit fee for their used 
coins. Sellers are generally interested in keeping cancellations of contracts 
low and try to avoid unnecessary discount.
+As of today's implementation, in the event of a withdrawal from the purchase 
agreement, buyers bear the cost of the 'Refund' fee if the exchange charges it; 
in the event of a partial rebate, buyers bear the deposit fee for their used 
coins. Sellers are generally interested in keeping cancellations of contracts 
low and try to avoid unnecessary discounting.
 
+* **Wire fee** from the buyer's point of view:
 
-* 'Wire fee' from the buyer's point of view:
+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. [...]
 
-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:
 
-* 'Wire fee' from the Exchange operator's point of view:
+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 [...]
 
-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:
 
-* 'Wire fee' from the seller's point of view:
+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 decide 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  [...]
 
-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 user's point of view:
 
-* 'Closing' from the buyer's point of view:
+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 withdrawn 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 [...]
 
-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:
+* **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, 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:
+* **Closing** from the seller's point of view:
 
-The closing transaction does not affect sellers in any way. 
+The closing transaction does not affect sellers in any way.
 
 
 Alternatives
 ============
 
+Another way for Exchange operators to cover costs or generate income would be 
to set all of the above fees to zero and use income from the forfeiture of 
users' funds on the escrow account. Some voucher distributors even already use 
this income source as a normal business model. This solution might possibly be 
a "best case", since without confusing the users with a complex fee schedule 
and/or a range of fees. However, these revenues are discontinuous and 
unpredictable and therefore not re [...]
+
 Drawbacks
 =========
 

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