Benefits of the retail payments card market: Russian cardholders' evidence

This article evaluates cardholders' benefits resulting from the participation in the retail payments market. Using surveys and data simulations to obtain a representative sample of 1500 Russian individuals, the article finds significant, robust evidence in favor of positive cardholders' benefits. This study also examines the effect of the level of variable cardholders' benefits on the frequency of card payments. Results show that such effect is non-linear and forms a u-shape. Findings imply that unbalanced intervention may be detrimental to the agents' welfare and propose a mechanism for ex-ante evaluation of the effect of shocks and interventions.