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How do Americans repay their debt? The balance-matching heuristic

Author

Listed:
  • John Gathergood

    (University of Nottingham)

  • Neale Mahoney

    (University of Chicago)

  • Neil Stewart

    (University of Warwick)

  • Jörg Weber

    (University of Nottingham)

Abstract

In Gathergood et al. (forthcoming), we studied credit card repayments using linked data on multiple cards from the United Kingdom. We showed that individuals did not allocate payments to the higher interest rate card, which would minimize the cost of borrowing, but instead made repayments according to a balance-matching heuristic under which the share of repayments on each card is matched to the share of balances on each card. In this paper, we examine whether these results extend to the United States using a large sample of TransUnion credit bureau data. These data do not have interest rates, so we cannot examine the optimality of payments. However, we observe balances and repayments, so we can examine balance-matching behavior. We replicate our analysis and find that Americans also repay their debt in accordance with a balance-matching heuristic.

Suggested Citation

  • John Gathergood & Neale Mahoney & Neil Stewart & Jörg Weber, 2019. "How do Americans repay their debt? The balance-matching heuristic," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(2), pages 1458-1466.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-19-00207
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alejandro Ponce & Enrique Seira & Guillermo Zamarripa, 2017. "Borrowing on the Wrong Credit Card? Evidence from Mexico," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1335-1361, April.
    2. Richard H. Thaler & Shlomo Benartzi, 2001. "Naive Diversification Strategies in Defined Contribution Saving Plans," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 79-98, March.
    3. John Gathergood & Neale Mahoney & Neil Stewart & Jörg Weber, 2019. "How Do Individuals Repay Their Debt? The Balance-Matching Heuristic," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 844-875, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Achten, Sandra & Lessmann, Christian, 2020. "Spatial inequality, geography and economic activity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    2. Lucas Goodman & Anita Mukherjee & Shanthi Ramnath, 2022. "Set it and Forget it? Financing Retirement in an Age of Defaults," Working Paper Series WP 2022-50, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    3. Xu, Yonghao & Meng, Juanjuan & Zhang, Yu & Koo, Jeffrey, 2025. "Present bias, mental budget constraint, and the payday consumption cycle," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. John Gathergood & David Hirshleifer & David Leake & Hiroaki Sakaguchi & Neil Stewart, 2023. "Naïve Buying Diversification and Narrow Framing by Individual Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(3), pages 1705-1741, June.
    5. Jason Allen & Robert Clark & Shaoteng Li & Nicolas Vincent, 2022. "Debt‐relief programs and money left on the table: Evidence from Canada's response to COVID‐19," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(S1), pages 9-53, February.
    6. Isler, Ozan & Rojas, Andres & Dulleck, Uwe, 2022. "Easy to shove, difficult to show: Effect of educative and default nudges on financial self-management," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    7. Christa Gibbs & Benedict Guttman-Kenney & Donghoon Lee & Scott Nelson & Wilbert van der Klaauw & Jialan Wang, 2025. "Consumer Credit Reporting Data," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 63(2), pages 598-636, June.
    8. Paul D. Adams & Stefan Hunt & Christopher Palmer & Redis Zaliauskas, 2019. "Testing the Effectiveness of Consumer Financial Disclosure: Experimental Evidence from Savings Accounts," NBER Working Papers 25718, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. J. Anthony Cookson & Erik P. Gilje & Rawley Z. Heimer, 2020. "Shale Shocked: Cash Windfalls and Household Debt Repayment," NBER Working Papers 27782, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. McGowan, Féidhlim & Papadopoulos, Alexandros & Lunn, Pete, 2023. "Who switches and why? A diagnostic survey of retail financial services in Ireland," Papers WP748, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    11. Lynn, Peter & Fumagalli, Laura & Muñoz-Bugarin, Jair, 2021. "The effect of formal debt advice on financial management and knowledge: insights from a new longitudinal study in Britain," ISER Working Paper Series 2021-09, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    12. Adams, Paul & Hunt, Stefan & Palmer, Christopher & Zaliauskas, Redis, 2021. "Testing the effectiveness of consumer financial disclosure: Experimental evidence from savings accounts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(1), pages 122-147.
    13. Paul Adams & Benedict Guttman‐Kenney & Lucy Hayes & Stefan Hunt & David Laibson & Neil Stewart, 2022. "Do Nudges Reduce Borrowing and Consumer Confusion in the Credit Card Market?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(S1), pages 178-199, June.
    14. Johannes G. Jaspersen & Marc A. Ragin & Justin R. Sydnor, 2019. "Predicting Insurance Demand from Risk Attitudes," NBER Working Papers 26508, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Guiso, Luigi & Pozzi, Andrea & Tsoy, Anton & Gambacorta, Leonardo & Mistrulli, Paolo Emilio, 2022. "The cost of steering in financial markets: Evidence from the mortgage market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(3), pages 1209-1226.
    16. Pretnar, Nick & Olivola, Christopher Y. & Montgomery, Alan, 2021. "Two-stage Budgeting with Bounded Rationality," MPRA Paper 105356, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Adam Tejs Jørring, 2024. "Financial Sophistication and Consumer Spending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(6), pages 3773-3820, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    credit cards; consumer borrowing; rational behavior; balance matching; heuristics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services

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