Abstract I argue that the measure of credit card debt used by researchers has grown rapidly in part because it captures debt arising from transactions in which a credit card is used because of its advantages over other payment instruments. Increases in debt stemming from such use may not signal...

Abstract Since many merchants charge consumers a single price regardless of payment method, payment card rewards programs may cause some consumers to indirectly subsidize others. From our consumer survey, we find that higher income consumers received a higher rewards rate, and from merchant...