Using a unique administrative level dataset from a large and diverse U.S. financial institution, Agarwal, Chakravorti, and Lunn test the impact of rewards on credit card spending and debt. Specifically, we study the impact of cash-back rewards on individuals before and during their enrollment in the program. We find that...
On June 21–22, 2010, the Chicago Fed and the University of Granada co-sponsored a conference that brought together policymakers, academics, and industry practitioners to discuss evolving retail payment systems and the role of public authorities, with several panels focusing on the Single Euro Payments Area.
In his presentation, Bob Chakravorti described several new and pending payment regulations in the United States at the Cards & Payments 2010 conference held in Paris, France.
Chakravorti, Gunther, and Moore suggest a subtle, yet far-reaching, tension in the objectives specified by the Monetary Control Act of 1980 (MCA) for the Federal Reserve’s role in providing retail payment services, such as check processing. Specifically, we argue that the requirement of an overall cost-revenue match, coupled with the...
In his lecture as part of a broader course on Effective Oversight of Payment and Settlement Systems: Maintaining Financial Plumbing edited by Charles Kahn, Chakravorti describes the underlying economics of retail payments including substitution of payment instruments, regulation of them, and underlying incentives to use them. He looks at specific...
Credit cards provide benefits to consumers and merchants not provided by other payment instruments as evidenced by their explosive growth in the number and value of transactions over the last 20 years. Recently, credit card networks have come under scrutiny from regulators and antitrust authorities around the world. The costs...