This essay takes a closer look at the U.S. payment card system, primarily debit cards. I examine the bundle of transactional services this and other types of payment cards provide. My goal, in large part, is to assess the competitive effects of the debit card interchange fee cap under the Durbin...

The payment card industry in the United States has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 reflects a high-water mark of congressional influence for the industry, altering bankruptcy procedures largely for the benefit of...

I exploit a unique data set on the payment card industry to study issues associated with network effects and two-sided markets. I show that consumers concentrate their spending on a single payment network (single-homing), although many maintain unused cards that allow the ability to use multiple...

A paradigm shift in the modus operandi of commerce across the globe has been significantly influenced by the payment card industry with brisk strides in digital technology. The blooming payment card industry has escorted the prosperity in economic growth of most of the countries. Besides, there...