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The market for acquiring card payments from small and medium-sized Canadian merchants

Author

Listed:
  • Angelika Welte

    (Bank of Canada)

  • Jozsef Molnar

    (Bank of Canada)

Abstract

This article builds on industry data and a unique dataset of small and medium-sized merchants to provide insights into the acquirer-merchant market in Canada. Three main findings are presented. First, smaller merchants pay their acquirer more for every dollar of card payment than larger merchants. Second, this finding is mainly explained by high fixed costs. Third, the acquiring market in Canada is concentrated and has remained fairly stable since 2010. These findings could be relevant for other countries with mature card payments systems such as the US and Australia.

Suggested Citation

  • Angelika Welte & Jozsef Molnar, 2021. "The market for acquiring card payments from small and medium-sized Canadian merchants," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 56(2), pages 87-97, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:buseco:v:56:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1057_s11369-021-00213-8
    DOI: 10.1057/s11369-021-00213-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jean Tirole, 2011. "Payment Card Regulation and the Use of Economic Analysis in Antitrust," Antitrust Chronicle, Competition Policy International, vol. 12.
    2. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, December.
    3. Jean-Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2002. "Cooperation Among Competitors: Some Economics Of Payment Card Associations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 33(4), pages 549-570, Winter.
    4. Ben Fung & Kim Huynh & Anneke Kosse, 2017. "Acceptance and Use of Payments at the Point of Sale in Canada," Bank of Canada Review, Bank of Canada, vol. 2017(Autumn), pages 14-26.
    5. Heng Chen & Walter Engert & Kim Huynh & Gradon Nicholls & Mitchell Nicholson & Julia Zhu, 2020. "Cash and COVID-19: The impact of the pandemic on demand for and use of cash," Discussion Papers 2020-6, Bank of Canada.
    6. Christopher Henry & Kim Huynh & Angelika Welte, 2018. "2017 Methods-of-Payment Survey Report," Discussion Papers 18-17, Bank of Canada.
    7. Kim Huynh & Helen Lao & Patrick Sabourin & Angelika Welte, 2020. "What do high-frequency expenditure network data reveal about spending and inflation during COVID‑19?," Staff Analytical Notes 2020-20, Bank of Canada.
    8. Anneke Kosse & Heng Chen & Marie-Hélène Felt & Valéry Dongmo Jiongo & Kerry Nield & Angelika Welte, 2017. "The Costs of Point-of-Sale Payments in Canada," Discussion Papers 17-4, Bank of Canada.
    9. Valéry Dongmo Jiongo, 2017. "The Bank of Canada 2015 Retailer Survey on the Cost of Payment Methods: Estimation of the Total Private Cost for Large Businesses," Technical Reports 110, Bank of Canada.
    10. Fung, Ben & Huynh, Kim P. & Nield, Kerry & Welte, Angelika, 2018. "Merchant acceptance of cash and credit cards at the point of sale," Journal of Payments Strategy & Systems, Henry Stewart Publications, vol. 12(2), pages 150-165, July.
    11. Heng Chen & Rallye Shen, 2017. "The Bank of Canada 2015 Retailer Survey on the Cost of Payment Methods: Calibration for Single-Location Retailers," Technical Reports 109, Bank of Canada.
    12. Kim Huynh & Gradon Nicholls & Oleksandr Shcherbakov, 2019. "Explaining the Interplay Between Merchant Acceptance and Consumer Adoption in Two-Sided Markets for Payment Methods," Staff Working Papers 19-32, Bank of Canada.
    13. Ramon P. DeGennaro, 2006. "Merchant acquirers and payment card processors: a look inside the black box," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 91(Q 1), pages 27-42.
    14. Jason Allen & Walter Engert, 2007. "Efficiency and Competition in Canadian Banking," Bank of Canada Review, Bank of Canada, vol. 2007(Summer), pages 33-45.
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    Cited by:

    1. Arifovic, Jasmina & Duffy, John & Jiang, Janet Hua, 2023. "Adoption of a new payment method: Experimental evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. Kim Huynh & Gradon Nicholls & Oleksandr Shcherbakov, 2022. "Equilibrium in Two-Sided Markets for Payments: Consumer Awareness and the Welfare Cost of the Interchange Fee," Staff Working Papers 22-15, Bank of Canada.
    3. Angelika Welte & Joy Wu, 2023. "The 2021–22 Merchant Acceptance Survey Pilot Study," Discussion Papers 2023-1, Bank of Canada.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial services; Market structure and pricing; Payment clearing and settlement systems;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C2 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables
    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • E4 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System

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