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Same Price, Cash, or Card: Vertical Control by Payment Networks

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Abstract

The no-surcharge rule (NSR) prohibits merchants from charging different prices to consumers that use credit cards instead of cash. We show that, while an NSR raises card company profits, it may reduce both cash and card transactions. If the card company can offer rebates to its cardholders, it will do so. Rebates benefit card users and harm cash users; they raise total surplus if and only if the proportion of cash users relative to card users exceeds some threshold. A similar condition determines whether total surplus rises under the NSR with rebates compared to no NSR; aggregate consumer surplus moves in opposite direction to total surplus. If the card company cannot limit its member banks from competing vigorously, then an NSR, by cross-subsidizing card purchases, can still reduce total surplus.

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  • Marius Schwartz & Daniel Vincent, 2002. "Same Price, Cash, or Card: Vertical Control by Payment Networks," Working Papers gueconwpa~02-02-01, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~02-02-01
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Chakravorti Sujit, 2003. "Theory of Credit Card Networks: A Survey of the Literature," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(2), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Hunt Robert M., 2003. "An Introduction to the Economics of Payment Card Networks," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(2), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Chakravorti Sujit & Roson Roberto, 2006. "Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets: The Case of Payment Networks," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-25, March.
    5. Wright, Julian, 2003. "Optimal card payment systems," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 587-612, August.

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