In a model of bank lending characterized by asymmetric information, we show that banks may use an interim monitoring technology strategically to soften price competition, even though the borrowers face no moral hazard problem. The interim monitoring technology can also be used to alleviate...

We provide evidence that increasing consumer awareness may have been underlying the rise of debit card use. We find that consumers typically use multiple payment media and that this behavior is closely related to the use of debit cards besides cash. Moreover, it turns out that the use of...