摘要：Using data from two recent surveys conducted by the Bank of Canada,this article studies how consumers and merchants interact with eachother to determine which payment methods are accepted and used at thepoint of sale. Merchants in Canada almost universally accept cash. While nearly alllarge businesses accept debit and credit cards, only two-thirds of smallor medium-sized businesses do. Our analysis suggests that merchant’sperceptions and the costs they incur from accepting payment methodsare not the only factors that determine which methods they accept.Merchants also consider which payment methods consumers are likely tocarry and prefer. Most consumers carry cash as well as debit cards and credit cards—theirperceptions and the costs of using a specific payment method seem tohave only a small influence on which ones they carry. Given that most merchants accept several methods, it is mainly consumerswho determine which they will use. We find that cash is stillwidely used, especially for small-value transactions, even at large businessesthat accept cash and cards. Debit cards are used mainly formedium-value transactions and credit cards for large-value transactions. These findings highlight the importance of the interaction between consumersand merchants as well as network externalities in a two-sided market
