Time to Cut Up Those Debit Cards? Effect of Payment Mode on Willingness to Spend

Financial industry data indicate that consumers increasingly prefer debit cards over credit cards, especially as a means of enforcing financial self-discipline. Given prior research suggesting that credit cards act as spending facilitating stimuli, this move toward reduced credit card use would appear to be in the right direction. Ironically, however, the same logos that were implicated in facilitating spending with credit cards are the logos that appear on debit cards. In what should serve as an eye-opener to consumers, it is found that exposure to debit card logos does result in an increased willingness to spend, similar to credit cards.     

Retailers and their relationships with their financial services suppliers: the case of debit card charges in the United Kingdom

The mid 1990s has seen a very rapid growth in both the holding and use of debit cards in the UK. There are now just over 27 million debit cards issued in the UK under the marques Switch and Visa Delta. Debit card transactions immediately debit the account of the card holder. These transactions are acquired by a financial institution (the acquirer), who reimburses the retailer of the purchase sum minus a negotiated fee, the merchant service charge (MSC). In the UK the MSC is a fixed fee per transaction as opposed to credit card transactions that are levied as a percentage of the transaction value. The level of the fixed fee payments vary enormously from just a few pence for large corporate clients to anything up to 80 p for some small independent retailers. The authors of this paper were commissioned to undertake a research programme into retailer attitudes to card payment systems. This paper will outline the main implication of the research in terms of marketing the acquiring service to retailers and consequent relationship between acquirer and retailer. Relationship marketing can be seen as a return to a more traditional method of bank management, in terms of close relationships between banks and businesses. With the development of specialist sections and departments such as card services there may have been a more transactional marketing approach by the banks. Merchant acquirers should focus more attention on retention rather than recruitment and treat each customer as an individual. Factors other than price and technology, for example quality and customer service, should be emphasized to protect themselves from competition and to encourage long term customer loyalty.     

Smart Card-Based Electronic Card Payment Systems in the Transportation Industry

Many products and services will soon be (or are already being) sold over the Internet or other networks. Paying for these with standard methods of payments, such as cash, checks, credit card, or debit card, may be ineffective or inefficient. For such cases, electronic card payment systems are more appropriate. Several things need to be considered when investigating electronic card payment system options, including: customer needs and benefits, developmental and operational cost, corporate benefits, continually changing technologies, critical mass of customers, security, standards of payment systems, and customer perception and comfort with new technologies. In this article, we analyze how smart card-based systems are used in mass transportation. Managers in mass transportation face the following questions: Do you develop your own electronic card payment system, do you wait for multifunctional cards that will be accepted across many industries to provide the functionality required in your market, or do you do nothing. The discussion here concentrates mainly on the transportation industry, where the transactions and payments are made on local area networks.     

Cash holdings in SMEs: speed of adjustment,growth and financing

This paper studies the effect of growth opportunities, financial constraints and financial distress on the speed of adjustment of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to their target cash holdings. We use a sample of Spanish SMEs from the period of 1998 to 2012. The results support the existence of a target cash holding level to which small firms attempt to converge. Additionally, consistent with the precautionary motive for cash holdings, the results show that SMEs with greater growth opportunities adjust more quickly to their target cash holding level to preserve their financial flexibility and to be able to take advantage of profitable investment opportunities when they arise. Moreover, for SMEs in financial difficulties, the adjustment speed of cash is higher to avoid financial distress costs. Finally, we observe a faster speed of adjustment for cash holding in the crisis period for all firms, as a possible response to the credit restrictions faced by SMEs.     

基于现金流量的企业财务预警方法

现金流量在企业财务分析中的作用越来越受到重视,从财务危机的预警理论出发,选取能够反映企业财务安全的现金流量类指标,通过对我国农业上市公司财务危机状况的实证研究,利用主成分分析法,建立农业上市公司财务预警模型——T模型,从而为企业提供一个较为准确的分析企业财务状况和预测企业财务风险的工具。     

Using the Family Self‐Sufficiency Program to Help Families with Housing Assistance Improve Earnings,Credit Score,and Debt Levels: A Quasi‐Experimental Analysis

HUD's Family Self‐Sufficiency (FSS) program aims to help housing assistance recipients increase their earnings and build savings to make progress toward economic security. This study examines an asset‐building nonprofit's innovative financial coaching‐based approach to FSS that adds an additional focus on helping clients build assets and financial capability. We use a quasi‐experimental approach to estimate the program's impact on earnings and cash assistance receipt and analyze credit and debt outcomes against a benchmark group. The findings show substantial, significant gains in households' earnings and significant decreases in receipt of some cash benefits. Participants also saw increases in credit score, and success in paying down credit card and derogatory debt. Our results indicate that FSS can be an effective platform for helping participants in subsidized housing make real progress toward economic security and financial health.     

上市公司财务预警分析--基于现金流模型的实证研究

本文从财务危机的预警机理出发,选取能反映企业财务安全的“现金制”指标,采用主成分分析法,通过对我国上市公司财务危机状况的实证研究,建立了上市公司财务预警模型———T分数模型。该模型针对目前以“ST”作为财务困境企业的分界点不能准确判断出企业是否有足够的现金流、是否能够真正避免财务危机这一现状,结合本文给出的各项现金类指标,能够从企业现金流的角度判断企业是否存在财务困境、能否偿还各类到期利息及债务,为企业提供了一个更为准确的预测自身财务危机的工具。     

我国西部地区农户借贷行为影响因素的实证研究——基于804户农户调查数据分析

诠释农户的性质、行为及其生存环境是讨论我国农村金融问题的逻辑起点,本文运用二元选择模型,利用农户调查问卷得到的数据对西部地区农户借贷行为的影响因素进行了实证研究。得出以下结论:个人与家庭特征、经济特征、环境特征均是影响西部地区农户借贷行为的因素,尤其是农户的家庭年收入、农户的家庭规模、家庭主要支出、户主年龄、家庭劳动负担率、2008年是否发生重大事件等因素对农户借贷行为的影响具有非常显著的作用。     

A Smart Card Based Internet Micropayment Infrastructure: Technical Development and User Adoption

As online shopping services proliferate, the need for a secure and convenient payment infrastructure becomes critical. While credit card payment has become common for online purchases, a payment solution has not yet been developed that can be used to support transactions involving a monetary value in the range of a few dollars or even cents. In this study, the authors report their experience in developing a smart card based micropayment infrastructure in collaboration with a major bank. The infrastructure makes use of Mondex, a cash card standard adopted by major financial institutions worldwide. The infrastructure provides a platform to support online transfer of Mondex value over the Internet. Unlike other cash card products, Mondex is the only standard that can support card-to-card transfer without a mediating party. The transactions are immediate and anonymous. This article outlines the technical approach used in the development of the infrastructure and presents a behavioral adoption model to identify and assess factors that may affect its adoption. The findings indicate that the use of the adoption model in the early stages of product development can provide valuable insights to a development team. Theoretical contributions and practical implications specific to the Mondex Internet micropayment infrastructure are also discussed.     

财务危机预警系统在商业银行信贷风险管理中的应用

目前,商业银行信贷风险管理中财务分析存在的贷款企业资料不真实、现金流量没得到应有重视、财务分析手段不丰富等主要问题,都会引发财务危机。在信贷风险管理中应用财务危机预警系统,通过对上市公司运营因子、盈利因子、偿债因子、成长因子、现金流量因子、规模因子、行业因子、股权集中度因子的分析,能够及时发现企业可能带来的危机影响。商业银行应准确合理地选择财务危机预警指标,为信贷风险管理提供强有力的依据;建立财务危机预警模型应在会计信息真实完整的基础上,通过对会计信息进行加工、处理来完成。     

What else can your payment card do? Multifunctionality of payment modes can reduce payment transparency

Payment modes (e.g., cash vs. credit card) vary in the transparency of the outflow of money. Smartcards (multifunctional cards), which bundle payment with non-payment functions (e.g., loyalty programs, identification, and other information functions), have become an increasingly popular payment mode. This shift toward multifunctionality in payment modes is assumed to reduce payment transparency and consequently to decrease consumers’ recall accuracy of past expenditures. We employ a field study to examine recall accuracy for recent purchases with cash, a single-function card, and a multifunctional card. We find that recall accuracy is lower when using a single- or a multifunction card than cash. We also find that it is not the multifunctionality of the card that results in a higher recall error but the individual usage patterns: A higher usage frequency of the non-payment functions results in a higher recall error.     

Payment method and perceptions of ownership

How consumers pay influences how they feel about a transaction. In particular, paying by card has been argued to have an effect on the perception of cost, making it less salient and painful. We propose and show that payment method also influences how consumers feel about the acquired good. Specifically, we focus on effects of the payment method on psychological ownership, i.e., the perception of an object as “mine.” We propose that cash payment results in stronger psychological ownership because it influences the extent of perceived investment in an object. We provide evidence for the proposed effect from field and laboratory settings. Results of a longitudinal exit survey and an experiment show that cash payers report higher levels of immediate psychological ownership than card payers. However, this effect seems to depend on the meanings associated with a payment method. Asian students (who associate credit card payment with investment and debt) do not exhibit this effect. Moreover, the initial boost in psychological ownership seems to be comparably short-lived. While those paying in cash experience no further increase in psychological ownership over time, those paying by card do.     

Credit cards in the United Kingdom—where the power lies in the battle between the banks and the retailers

This paper looks at the development of the two types of credit card systems in the UK, the bank credit cards and the retailer credit cards. The article seeks to address the issue of who will hold the balance of power at the introduction of an EFTPOS, or direct‐debit, system into the UK. The situation in 1988 appears to be that retailers are well up the “learning curve” as regards the management and marketing of credit and so are increasingly proving to be a threat to the banks not only in the provision of credit but also in offering a wide range of financial services.     

借记卡收费的网络视角分析

与国际同业收费标准相比,目前我国借记卡收费属偏低水平。借记卡是一种典型的具有网络效应的产品,其网络价值随着持卡人数和硬件终端分布数量的增多而提高。银行终端系统兼容性的提高在一定程度上降低了持卡人的转换成本,这将对借记卡的市场结构和网络效应的作用形式产生很大影响。银行应提高借记卡服务的差异化,应通过增加投入来进一步完善网络,提高自身的服务水平与效率,通过不断增加客户的效用,进一步发挥网络效应的作用。     

金融危机的历史规律、当前特征与中国企业应对策略

本文对金融危机进行了历史分析,阐述了金融危机生成的历史规律,揭示此次国际金融危机在传导路径、资产定价和风险分担机制方面的突出特征。文章认为,为了对抗金融危机的冲击,中国企业应重视安全性,贯彻安全保值、审慎稳健的主导思维,并在战略管理、并购、投融资和业绩评价方面做出相应的调整。     

Corporate cash holdings and promoter ownership

We examine the relationship between corporate cash holdings and promoter ownership for a sample of Indian non-financial firms. Consistent with the arguments of the ‘efficient monitoring hypothesis’, our results broadly suggest that promoter ownership is negatively associated with cash holdings, thereby highlighting the role of large owners in preventing cash accretion in an emerging market context. Indicating prominent influence of corporate ownership on cash management, we find that corporate non-promoter ownership is also negatively related with cash holdings. With regard to promoter ownership of foreign entities, our results suggest that cash holdings share a U-shaped relationship with ownership of foreign promoter corporations. In addition, our findings provide weak evidence to support a more pronounced negative association between cash holdings and promoter ownership for group-affiliated firms as compared to non-affiliated firms since the former faces lower financial constraints on account of access to internal capital markets. Finally, we perform long-term effect analysis in order to reinforce robustness of our results.     

Economic Development During the Olympics

＂I clearly remember the first time I came to Beijing ten years ago; I had to pay cash when 1 went shopping. But now, things are different. Plastic cards are accepted at many public places, and it is very convenient.＂ said Jenny, an American designer who came to Beijing for business. Two very different experiences in Beijing have made her realize that Beijing financial services have improved a lot.     

Credit lender–borrower relationship in the credit card market – Implications for credit risk management strategy and relationship marketing

Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008, precipitating the international financial crisis. Many questioned the banks’ risk-taking credit system. Understanding credit risk and how the credit system functions may provide knowledge on managing credit, to avoid another such international crisis. We study the credit card field and present a pricing decision model for managing credit risk. Recent credit lenders’ portfolio re-pricing practices call for immediate attention to the credit lender–borrower relationship and relationship marketing. A literature review and recent phenomena in the credit card industry reveal that the lenders’ re-pricing strategy negatively affects the credit lender–borrower relationship and relationship marketing. Thus, we introduce a pricing decision model incorporating the lenders’ re-pricing strategy and the credit lender–borrower relationship. Further, we discuss the implications of, and the role of marketing in, credit risk management and the implications of relationship marketing for credit lenders in foreign markets, including the US market.     

Understanding reserve volatility in emerging markets: a look at the long-run

In this paper, we examine long-run determinants of cross-country variation in reserve volatility for 30 emerging market economies from 1973 to 2000. Reserve holdings and openness are found to be the most important explanatory variables of reserve volatility. The empirical results are robust for a range of control variables, including monetary variables, the degree of financial development, and the level of indebtedness. We view these results as establishing interesting stylized facts that may be helpful in evaluating reserve volatility as a crisis indicator.     

Household Money Management: Recognizing Nontraditional Couples

This research examines factors related to household financial decision-making roles. Findings suggest significant differences between traditional couples (first marriages) and nontraditional couples (remarrieds and cohabitors). Marital status appears related to household money management decisions (bank card and checking account management), investment management decisions (planning savings and home investment), and decisions related to financing. Conclusions suggest that nontraditional consumer households may need more sensitive recognition of these differences and that marketers may reduce customer dissatisfaction and embarrassment by more consciously designing programs and materials to communicate such recognition.