The Failure of Competition in the Credit Card Market

TLDR

The U.S. bank credit‑card market, with 4,000 firms and no regulatory barriers, appears conducive to perfect competition. Credit card interest rates have been unusually sticky, and issuers earned three to five times the ordinary banking return from 1983‑88, indicating a failure of perfect competition partly due to consumers’ failure to consider the high probability of paying interest.

Abstract

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.