Using data from Canada and the United States, we quantify consumers' net pecuniary cost of using cash, credit cards, and debit cards for purchases across income cohorts. The net cost includes fees paid to financial institutions, rewards received from credit or debit card issuers, and the...

In this paper, we determine how premium payment methods impact effective prices (prices that include any consumer payment rewards). This question is fundamentally related to policy, and we provide a robust answer by considering how a variety of retail market structures are impacted by multiple...

Using the results of a survey on accepted means of payment, the authors examine merchant preferences and perceptions of retail payment reliability, risk, and costs; the share of each type of payment method over total sales; and the costs involved in accepting payments. Models are developed for...