Patterns of Credit Card Use Among Low and Moderate Income Households

Patterns of Credit Card Use Among Low and Moderate Income Households PDF Author: Ronald J. Mann
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 37

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Book Description
This chapter uses data from the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances for 2004 (the quot;SCFquot;) to examine the penetration of credit cards into LMI markets. The chapter has two purposes. First, I discuss the rise of the modern credit market, emphasizing the segmentation of product lines based on behavioral and financial characteristics of customer groups. Among other things, that trend involves the use of products aimed at LMI households that differ significantly from those aimed at middle-class households. Second, I describe the extent to which LMI households borrow on credit cards, the types of LMI households that borrow, and how they differ from the more affluent households that borrow. Despite lower incomes, credit card use is almost as common among LMI households as it is among more affluent households. Indeed, measured as a share of income, the credit card balances that LMI cardholders carry are substantially higher than those of more affluent households. To check the robustness of those results, the chapter closes with the results of a multivariate regression analysis of the characteristics of LMI households with credit card debt. Generally, those results suggest that the demographic characteristics of LMI households that have credit card debt are different in material ways from the characteristics of those with credit card debt in the overall population. The models that I summarize here suggest that age, race, and education are important predictors of credit card use in the population at large. At least in these models, however, age and race become insignificant and education is only marginally important in predicting credit card use in LMI households. In LMI households, by contrast, the most significant predictors of credit card use are employment status, the use of other financial products (checking accounts, mortgage loans, and car loans), and marital status.

Patterns of Credit Card Use Among Low and Moderate Income Households

Patterns of Credit Card Use Among Low and Moderate Income Households PDF Author: Ronald J. Mann
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 37

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Book Description
This chapter uses data from the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances for 2004 (the quot;SCFquot;) to examine the penetration of credit cards into LMI markets. The chapter has two purposes. First, I discuss the rise of the modern credit market, emphasizing the segmentation of product lines based on behavioral and financial characteristics of customer groups. Among other things, that trend involves the use of products aimed at LMI households that differ significantly from those aimed at middle-class households. Second, I describe the extent to which LMI households borrow on credit cards, the types of LMI households that borrow, and how they differ from the more affluent households that borrow. Despite lower incomes, credit card use is almost as common among LMI households as it is among more affluent households. Indeed, measured as a share of income, the credit card balances that LMI cardholders carry are substantially higher than those of more affluent households. To check the robustness of those results, the chapter closes with the results of a multivariate regression analysis of the characteristics of LMI households with credit card debt. Generally, those results suggest that the demographic characteristics of LMI households that have credit card debt are different in material ways from the characteristics of those with credit card debt in the overall population. The models that I summarize here suggest that age, race, and education are important predictors of credit card use in the population at large. At least in these models, however, age and race become insignificant and education is only marginally important in predicting credit card use in LMI households. In LMI households, by contrast, the most significant predictors of credit card use are employment status, the use of other financial products (checking accounts, mortgage loans, and car loans), and marital status.

Handbook of Consumer Finance Research

Handbook of Consumer Finance Research PDF Author: Jing Jian Xiao
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319288873
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
This second edition of the authoritative resource summarizes the state of consumer finance research across disciplines for expert findings on—and strategies for enhancing—consumers’ economic health. New and revised chapters offer current research insights into familiar concepts (retirement saving, bankruptcy, marriage and finance) as well as the latest findings in emerging areas, including healthcare costs, online shopping, financial therapy, and the neuroscience behind buyer behavior. The expanded coverage also reviews economic challenges of diverse populations such as ethnic groups, youth, older adults, and entrepreneurs, reflecting the ubiquity of monetary issues and concerns. Underlying all chapters is the increasing importance of financial literacy training and other large-scale interventions in an era of economic transition. Among the topics covered: Consumer financial capability and well-being. Advancing financial literacy education using a framework for evaluation. Financial coaching: defining an emerging field. Consumer finance of low-income families. Financial parenting: promoting financial self-reliance of young consumers. Financial sustainability and personal finance education. Accessibly written for researchers and practitioners, this Second Edition of the Handbook of Consumer Finance Research will interest professionals involved in improving consumers’ fiscal competence. It also makes a worthwhile text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in economics, family and consumer studies, and related fields.

Insufficient Funds

Insufficient Funds PDF Author: Rebecca M. Blank
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610445880
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
One in four American adults doesn’t have a bank account. Low-income families lack access to many of the basic financial services middle-class families take for granted and are particularly susceptible to financial emergencies, unemployment, loss of a home, and uninsured medical problems. Insufficient Funds explores how institutional constraints and individual decisions combine to produce this striking disparity and recommends policies to help alleviate the problem. Mainstream financial services are both less available and more expensive for low-income households. High fees, minimum-balance policies, and the relative scarcity of banks in poor neighborhoods are key factors. Michael Barr reports the results of an in-depth study of financial behavior in 1,000 low- and moderate-income families in metropolitan Detroit. He finds that most poor households have bank accounts, but combine use of mainstream services with alternative options such as money orders, pawnshops, and payday lenders. Barr suggests that a tax credit for banks serving primarily disadvantaged customers could facilitate greater equality in the private financial sector. Drawing on evidence from behavioral economics, Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir show that low-income individuals exhibit many of the same patterns and weaknesses in financial decision making as middle-class individuals and could benefit from many of the same financial aids. They argue that savings programs that automatically enroll participants and require them to actively opt out in order to leave the program could drastically increase savings ability. Ronald Mann demonstrates that significant changes in the credit market over the past fifteen years have allowed companies to expand credit to a larger share of low-income families. Mann calls for regulations on credit card companies that would require greater disclosure of actual interest rates and fees. Raphael Bostic and Kwan Lee find that while home ownership has risen dramatically over the past twenty years, elevated risks for low-income families—such as foreclosure—may well outweigh the benefits of owning a home. The authors ultimately argue that if we want to demand financial responsibility from low-income households, we have an obligation to assure that these families have access to the banking, credit, and savings institutions that are readily available to higher-income families. Insufficient Funds highlights where and how access is blocked and shows how government policy and individual decisions could combine to eliminate many of these barriers in the future.

Preferences for Banking and Payment Services Among Low- and Moderate-Income Households

Preferences for Banking and Payment Services Among Low- and Moderate-Income Households PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437982816
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description


The Plastic Safety Net

The Plastic Safety Net PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Credit cards
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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The Growth and Diffusion of Credit Cards in Society

The Growth and Diffusion of Credit Cards in Society PDF Author: David S. Evans
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 17

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Book Description
Credit cards are used by every segment of our society, from college students to retirees, from the unemployed to hopeful entrepreneurs, from some of the poorest households to the wealthiest, and across all race, sex, and ethnic groups. This study documents the growth in credit cards as a method of paying for and financing purchases in the United States, and the diffusion of credit cards through almost all segments of the American public. Using data collected by the Federal Reserve Board in its Survey of Consumer Finances, this paper focuses on the period from 1970 (four years after the introduction of what are now Visa and MasterCard) to 2001 (the most recent year for which the Survey of Consumer Finance data are available). About 73 percent of all households had at least one credit card in 2001, up from 16 percent in 1970. And households use these cards more than they used to: the average household that had at least one credit card charged $720 a month in 2001 compared with $136 in 1970 (both in 2002 dollars). Households also use credit cards more as a source of financing. Between 1970 and 2001, there was an eight-fold increase in the dollar value of credit-card debt held by the average U.S. household. Credit cards have displaced store cards and installment loans as a source of financing.Credit cards have become increasingly available and are used more by most segments of society. Disadvantaged groups, in particular, have experienced high growth in credit card access and use. For example, in 1970, 2 percent of all low-income households owned credit cards. By 2001, more than one third did. In fact, by 2001 credit cards on average accounted for over 45 percent of low-income households' non-mortgage debt. Another traditionally disadvantaged group, single women, has also gained increased access to credit through credit cards. More than 60 percent of all single women without children have credit cards, while over 50 percent of single women with children own cards - and most carry balances on those cards.Over the last thirty years, virtually all demographic groups have increased their ownership and use of credit cards. Credit cards have become an indispensable means for Americans and consumers worldwide to make safe, convenient payment transactions. More importantly, credit cards have helped households to obtain credit that, certainly for the less wealthy, may not have been available otherwise.

The Effects of Credit Cards on Low-income Populations

The Effects of Credit Cards on Low-income Populations PDF Author: Ysmael Fuentes
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Credit cards
Languages : en
Pages : 58

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Book Description
Access to credit cards serves as a protection in many cases, providing an available line of credit that may be used in emergencies. Particularly in the United States, credit cards are viewed as useful and beneficial tools for consumers of various income levels. Conversely, a credit card may also place its holder at risk of making unwise or excessive purchases that exceed the individual's ability to repay credit card debt in a timely manner, and this is especially true for low-income populations. Accordingly, the availability of credit cards to individuals with low income creates benefits as well as pitfalls. This project addresses the effects of credit card use by low-income populations and reveals the negative consequences extending well beyond the expected financial ramifications. Recent attempts to improve the credit regulations have failed to mitigate these issues for the low income population.

The Book of Payments

The Book of Payments PDF Author: Bernardo Batiz-Lazo
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137602317
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
This book examines the nature of retail financial transaction infrastructures. Contributions assume a long-term outlook in their exploration of the key financial processes and systems that support a global transition to a cashless economy. The volume offers both modern and historic accounts that demonstrate the constantly changing role of payment instruments. It brings together different theoretical approaches to the study, re-examining and forecasting changes in retail payment systems. Chapters explore a global transition to a cashless society and contemplate future alternatives to cash, cheques and plastic, featuring the perspectives of academics from different disciplines in conversation and industry participants from six continents. Readers are invited to discover the innovation in payment systems and how it co-evolves with changes in society and organisations through personal, corporate and governmental processes.

No Slack

No Slack PDF Author: Michael S. Barr
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815722338
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The financial crisis exposed unsavory results of interactions between low- and moderate-income households and alternative and mainstream financial institutions: overleveraged incomes, high cost for financial services, and lack of access to useful financial products that can cushion against economic instability. It revealed a financial services system that is not well designed to serve these households, leaving them without financial slack. Pivotal analysis, focusing on metropolitan Detroit's low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, examines household decision making processes, behaviors, and attitudes toward a full range of financial transactions during the subprime lending boom. The author advocates helping families seek financial stability in three primary ways: enhancing individuals' financial capability, using technology to promote access to financial products and services that meet their needs, and establishing strong protections for consumers.

Banking for People

Banking for People PDF Author: Udo Reifner
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110846039
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 708

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Book Description
No detailed description available for "Banking for People".