IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/gii/giihei/heidwp11-2019.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this paper

Merchant's Card Acceptance: An extension of the Tourist Test for Developing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Jose Aurazo

    (Central Reserve Bank of Peru)

  • Jose Vasquez

    (Central Reserve Bank of Peru)

Abstract

This paper extends the tourist test model proposed by Rochet and Tirole (2011) by incorporating the government in order to take into account informality (understood as tax evasion in cash payments) and the net social cost of cash usage. These two elements are relevant in developing countries, where the shadow economy tends to be large and merchants usually evade taxes in cash transactions. The tourist test aims to determine an interchange fee that does not increase merchants' operating cost of accepting card payments. In the presence of informality, the tax gap between card and cash payments reduces merchants' net operating bene t of accepting card sales, which in turn lowers the interchange fee that passes the tourist test. In addition, the interchange fee resulting from the social welfare maximization exceeds this tourist test threshold while the interchange fee that maximizes the total user surplus is still compatible with the tourist test.

Suggested Citation

  • Jose Aurazo & Jose Vasquez, 2019. "Merchant's Card Acceptance: An extension of the Tourist Test for Developing Countries," IHEID Working Papers 11-2019, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:gii:giihei:heidwp11-2019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.graduateinstitute.ch/pdfs/Working_papers/HEIDWP11-2019.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Klee, Elizabeth, 2008. "How people pay: Evidence from grocery store data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 526-541, April.
    2. Mathias Drehmann & Charles Goodhart & Malte Krueger, 2002. "The challenges facing currency usage: will the traditional transaction medium be able to resist competition from the new technologies? [‘Statement before the subcommittee on general oversight and i," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 17(34), pages 193-228.
    3. repec:bla:jindec:v:50:y:2002:i:2:p:103-22 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. 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.
    5. Bounie David & François Abel & Van Hove Leo, 2016. "Merchant Acceptance of Payment Cards: “Must Take” or “Wanna Take”?," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(3), pages 117-146, September.
    6. Jean‐Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2006. "Two‐sided markets: a progress report," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 645-667, September.
    7. Zenger, Hans, 2011. "Perfect surcharging and the tourist test interchange fee," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2544-2546, October.
    8. Immordino, Giovanni & Russo, Francesco Flaviano, 2018. "Cashless payments and tax evasion," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 36-43.
    9. ?zlem Bedre-Defolie & Emilio Calvano, 2013. "Pricing Payment Cards," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(3), pages 206-231, August.
    10. Schneider, Friedrich, 2004. "The Size of the Shadow Economies of 145 Countries all over the World: First Results over the Period 1999 to 2003," IZA Discussion Papers 1431, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Baxter, William F, 1983. "Bank Interchange of Transactional Paper: Legal and Economic Perspectives," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 541-588, October.
    12. Jean-Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2003. "Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(4), pages 990-1029, June.
    13. Laffont,Jean-Jacques, 2005. "Regulation and Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521840187, November.
    14. Wright Julian, 2010. "Why Do Merchants Accept Payment Cards?," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(3), pages 1-8, August.
    15. Schmiedel, Heiko & Kostova, Gergana & Ruttenberg, Wiebe, 2012. "The social and private costs of retail payment instruments: a European perspective," Occasional Paper Series 137, European Central Bank.
    16. Leandro Medina & Mr. Friedrich Schneider, 2018. "Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years?," IMF Working Papers 2018/017, International Monetary Fund.
    17. Rochet, Jean-Charles & Wright, Julian, 2010. "Credit card interchange fees," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1788-1797, August.
    18. Wang, Zhu, 2016. "Price cap regulation in a two-sided market: Intended and unintended consequences," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 28-37.
    19. Rong Ding & Julian Wright, 2017. "Payment Card Interchange Fees and Price Discrimination," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 39-72, March.
    20. Jean Tirole, 2011. "Payment Card Regulation and the Use of Economic Analysis in Antitrust," CPI Journal, Competition Policy International, vol. 7.
    21. Jean‐Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2011. "Must‐Take Cards: Merchant Discounts And Avoided Costs," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 462-495, June.
    22. 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.
    23. Guerino Ardizzi & Michele Savini Zangrandi, 2018. "The impact of the interchange fee regulation on merchants: evidence from Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 434, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    24. Wilko Bolt & Nicole Jonker & Mirjam Plooij, 2013. "Tourist test or tourist trap? Unintended consequences of debit card interchange fee regulation," DNB Working Papers 405, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    25. Julian Wright, 2004. "The Determinants of Optimal Interchange Fees in Payment Systems," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 1-26, March.
    26. Arango, Carlos & Huynh, Kim P. & Sabetti, Leonard, 2015. "Consumer payment choice: Merchant card acceptance versus pricing incentives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 130-141.
    27. Richard Schmalensee, 2002. "Payment Systems and Interchange Fees," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 103-122, June.
    28. Ardizzi, Guerino, 2013. "Card versus cash: empirical evidence of the impact of payment card interchange fees on end users’ choice of payment methods," MPRA Paper 48088, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 25 May 2013.
    29. Agha, Ali & Haughton, Jonathan, 1996. "Designing VAT Systems: Some Efficiency Considerations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 303-308, May.
    30. Rochet Jean-Charles, 2003. "The Theory of Interchange Fees: A Synthesis of Recent Contributions," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(2), pages 1-28, June.
    31. Schmiedel, Heiko & Kostova, Gergana & Ruttenberg, Wiebe, 2012. "The social and private costs of retail payment instruments: a European perspective," Occasional Paper Series 137, European Central Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shy, Oz, 2022. "Interchange fees with cashless stores, cashless consumers, and cash-only consumers," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    2. Arango-Arango, Carlos A. & Betancourt-García, Yanneth Rocío & Restrepo-Bernal, Manuela, 2022. "An application of the tourist test to Colombian merchants," Latin American Journal of Central Banking (previously Monetaria), Elsevier, vol. 3(4).
    3. Hongru Tan, 2020. "The regulation of merchant fees in credit card markets," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 258-276, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arango-Arango, Carlos A. & Betancourt-García, Yanneth Rocío & Restrepo-Bernal, Manuela, 2022. "An application of the tourist test to Colombian merchants," Latin American Journal of Central Banking (previously Monetaria), Elsevier, vol. 3(4).
    2. Reisinger, Markus & Zenger, Hans, 2019. "Interchange fee regulation and service investments," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 40-77.
    3. Julian Wright, 2012. "Why payment card fees are biased against retailers," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 43(4), pages 761-780, December.
    4. Alen Veljan, 2020. "The influence of intra- and inter-system concentration on the pre-regulated setting of interchange fees within cooperative card payment networks," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(2), pages 139-151, June.
    5. Egor A. Krivosheya, 2018. "Evaluating Efficient Multilateral Interchange Fees: Evidence from End-User Benefits," HSE Working papers WP BRP 66/FE/2018, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    6. Rysman Marc & Wright Julian, 2014. "The Economics of Payment Cards," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(3), pages 303-353, September.
    7. Carlos A. Arango-Arango & Héctor M. Zárate-Solano & Nicolás F. Suárez-Ariza, 2017. "Determinantes del Acceso, Uso y Aceptación de Pagos Electrónicos en Colombia," Borradores de Economia 999, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    8. Wang, Zhu, 2016. "Price cap regulation in a two-sided market: Intended and unintended consequences," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 28-37.
    9. Wilko Bolt & Sujit Chakravorti, 2010. "Digitization of Retail Payment," DNB Working Papers 270, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    10. Mariotto Carlotta & Verdier Marianne, 2017. "Who Pays for Card Payments? A General Model on the Role of Interchange Fees," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 307-349, September.
    11. Bourreau, Marc & Verdier, Marianne, 2010. "Private cards and the bypass of payment systems by merchants," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1798-1807, August.
    12. James J. McAndrews & Zhu Wang, 2008. "The economics of two-sided payment card markets: pricing, adoption and usage," Research Working Paper RWP 08-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    13. Rong Ding & Julian Wright, 2017. "Payment Card Interchange Fees and Price Discrimination," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 39-72, March.
    14. 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.
    15. Ding, Rong, 2014. "Merchant internalization revisited," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(3), pages 347-349.
    16. Jose Aurazo, 2024. "Interchange fees, access pricing and sub-acquirers in payment markets," BIS Working Papers 1163, Bank for International Settlements.
    17. Aurazo, Jose, 2020. "Merchant internalization and tax evasion," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 273-276.
    18. ?zlem Bedre-Defolie & Emilio Calvano, 2013. "Pricing Payment Cards," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(3), pages 206-231, August.
    19. Tan, Hongru & Chen, Xuezheng, 2024. "The no surcharge rule and its welfare implication," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 1369-1384.
    20. Rochet, Jean-Charles & Wright, Julian, 2010. "Credit card interchange fees," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1788-1797, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tourist test; card payments; tax evasion; developing countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gii:giihei:heidwp11-2019. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dorina Dobre (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ieheich.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.