Taler uses efficient cryptographic primitives (such as RSA 2048 and EdDSA) and is thus expected to be able to handle large transaction volumes, only limited by the input/output capabilities of the database. Thus, running a Taler mint should be profitable even with very low (less than 1 cent) transaction fees (at appropriate transaction volume).
All transactions in Taler are secured using modern cryptography and trust in all parties is minimized. Financial damage is bounded (for customers, merchants and the mint) even in the case that systems are compromised and private keys are stolen. Databases can be audited for consistency, resulting in either the detection of compromised systems or the demonstration that participants were honest.
The basic business model for Taler is the operation of a mint. A mint converts money from traditional payment systems (Mastercard, SEPA, Visa, BitCoin, ACH, SWIFT, etc.) to anonymous electronic coins in the same currency. The customer can then redeem the electronic coins at a merchant, who can exchange them for money represented using traditional payment systems at the mint. The mint can then charge fees (to the customer, merchant or both) to facilitate the transactions.