Interchange fees and inefficiencies in the substitution between debit cards and cash
Abstract
This article examines the divergence between the profit maximizing and the welfare maximizing interchange fees when two issuing banks, which compete for deposits, share a debit card platform and their ATM networks. It suggests some guidelines for regulatory intervention to reduce inefficiencies in the substitution between debit cards and cash. For instance, when banks make profit on ATM transactions, if the volume of foreign withdrawals is high and if the opportunity cost of being paid in cash for merchants who accept cards is low, social welfare can be increased by reducing the interchange fee on withdrawals. If the value of the expenses paid by card is high, and if merchant demand is not very sensitive to the interchange fee on card payments, social welfare can be increased by reducing the interchange fee on card payments.Download Info
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal International Journal of Industrial Organization.
Volume (Year): 30 (2012)
Issue (Month): 6 ()
Pages: 682-696
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505551
Related research
Keywords: Payment card systems; Interchange fees; Two-sided markets; Money demand; ATMs;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
- L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs
- L42 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Vertical Restraints; Resale Price Maintenance; Quantity Discounts
References
No references listed on IDEASYou can help add them by filling out this form.
Citations
Lists
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.Statistics
Access and download statisticsCorrections
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:30:y:2012:i:6:p:682-696For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Wendy Shamier).
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

