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Choosing and using payment instruments: evidence from German microdata

Author

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  • Ulf Kalckreuth
  • Tobias Schmidt
  • Helmut Stix

Abstract

Germans are still very fond of using cash. Of all direct payments transactions in 2008, cash accounted for an astounding 82 % in terms of number and for 58 % in terms of value. With a dataset that combines transaction information with survey data on payment behaviour of German consumers, we shed light on how individuals decide on their cash usage. We employ a two-stage empirical framework which jointly explains payment card ownership and the use of cash. Our results indicate that cash usage is compatible with systematic economic decision making. Consumers decide on the adoption of payment cards and then use available payment media according to transaction characteristics, the relative costs of cash and card usage, socio-demographic characteristics and their assessment of payment instruments’ characteristics. Importantly, older consumers use significantly more cash than younger consumers. We show that this difference in payment behaviour is not attributable to age as such but largely to differences in the characteristics of older and younger consumers. This suggests that the high cash intensity of older consumers cannot fully be attributed to the role of habit or to their slow adoption to new payment technologies. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Ulf Kalckreuth & Tobias Schmidt & Helmut Stix, 2014. "Choosing and using payment instruments: evidence from German microdata," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 1019-1055, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:46:y:2014:i:3:p:1019-1055
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-013-0708-3
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Payment instruments; Payment cards; Payment behaviour; Payment innovation; Cash usage; Cash substitution; Debit cards; Credit cards; Survey data; E41; E58; D12;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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