Customer Bias on Monetary and Non – Monetary Benefits of Credit Services

The credit card market offers consumers a wide range of options when choosing a card. While many factors may influence this choice, this paper focuses on the main financial costs and benefits of holding a credit card. I summarise these costs and benefits as the net monetary benefit associated with a card. Theory might suggest that a rational consumer will choose a card that maximises their net monetary benefit. But in reality, consumers’ decisions may be systematically biased, leading them to select higher-cost credit cards when lower-cost alternatives are available. To test this possibility, I first estimate the net monetary cost or benefit that individuals in a nationally representative survey obtain from their credit card. I then use these estimates to examine whether principles from behavioural economics – such as optimism bias, bounded rationality and present bias – can help to explain consumers’ choice of credit card