Sujit Chakravorti 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 and benefits of credit cards to network participants are discussed. Focusing on interrelated bilateral transactions, several theoretical models have been constructed to study the implications of several business practices of credit card networks. The results and implications of these economic models along with future research topics are discussed Ausubel, Lawrence M The bank credit card market, containing 4,000 firms and lacking regulatory barriers, casually appears to be a hospitable environment for the model of perfect competition. Nevertheless, this article reports that credit card interest rates have been exceptionally sticky relative to the cost of funds. Moreover, major credit card issuers have persistently earned from three to five times the ordinary rate of return in banking during the periods 1983-88. The failure of the competitive model appears to be partly attributable to consumers making credit card choices without taking account of the very high probability that they will pay interest on their outstanding balances. Copyright 1991 by American Economic Association
Martha Solt

Government of the United States of America - Division of Research and Statistics

Since the 1980s, Visa U.S.A. (Visa) and Master-Card International (MasterCard), the bankcontrolled credit card associations that together account for approximately 70 percent of today's credit card market, have been able to control the use of and access to their networks to the advantage of their bank members. Recently, however, the credit card industry has been changing: some merchants are now large enough to exert their own leverage, legal defeats have impeded the ability of credit card associations to control the market, and some participants have developed new arrangements and alliances that may be a prelude to further changes in the industry. This article surveys recent developments in an industry that is facing new competitive dynamics.

The article begins by describing the formation of the payment card industry and then its structure. The article continues by explaining the functioning of credit card networks: the various kinds of network models, and the significance of interchange fees in the most complex model. Next discussed are recent industry-altering litigation involving Visa and MasterCard, and significant aftereffects of the litigation. The article concludes by noting the main challenges facing the industry today.

Underbanked and Unbanked Consumers in the U.S. provides market size, industry and product revenue forecasts and analyzes the legislative and regulatory challenges driving the growth of alternative financial services (AFS). Increasingly, these products are seen as a viable alternative to banks by the 26% of U.S. households that are underbanked or unbanked. Felix Achou Takang; Claudine Tenguh Ntui; [2008] Banking is topic, practice, business or profession almost as old as the very existence of man, but literarily it can be rooted deep back the days of the Renaissance (by the Florentine Bankers). It has sprouted from the very primitive Stone-age banking, through the Victorian-age to the technology-driven Google-age banking, encompassing automatic teller machines (ATMs), credit and debit cards, correspondent and internet banking

Kerstetter, Jim.
Kerstetter explains that SET was created by Visa and Master Card to provide a secure method for performing credit card transactions over the Internet. The goal of SET is to create a feeling of trust among the public in order to increase the purchases of goods and services over the Internet. However, Kerstetter points out that this sense of trust could be misleading to many people. SET can only protect the security of the transmission of encrypted credit card information. SET cannot guarantee that the merchant s web site is secure. It is up to the merchant s web administrator to maintain web site security to block hackers

1. Overview

In this literature review we detail current knowledge about how people decide on personal debt in Australia, with particular reference to low income families. These readings form the starting point of our study of Families at Risk Deciding on Personal Debt. The aim of our study is to understand financial decision-making so that we can address what needs to be done to empower consumers and alleviate debt problems amongst the most vulnerable families in Australia. This literature review on personal credit and debt in Australia complements the accompanying literature review on the theoretical frameworks and literature around the study of personal debt and credit. These literature reviews do not include a detailed discussion of consumer education as this will form the subject of a separate report