A number of jurisdictions are considering imposing price caps on the interchange fees that card issuers receive from merchant acquirers when cardholders pay with their cards. Several have already done so. This paper examines the net impact of these price caps on consumers. The economics of...

This paper examines regulator concerns that cash-paying consumers pay higher retail prices due to so-called ‘negative pricing' of credit cards that emerge when cardholders face few fees but instead receive discounts, rewards and other inducements for using credit cards for transactions. It is...