Author information:
Tamás Ilyés: Magyar Nemzeti Bank, Economic Analyst. E-mail: ilyest@mnb.hu
Lóránt Varga: Magyar Nemzeti Bank, Head of Department. E-mail: vargalor@mnb.hu
Abstract:
In our study we examined payment card acceptance in the Hungarian retail sector based on a receipt-level, detailed dataset derived from online cash registers. The main objective of our research was to identify the primary explanatory variables and to test conventional card acceptance hypotheses. For the purposes of our analysis, we relied on anonymised online cash register data provided by the National Tax and Customs Administration (NTCA) for the year 2016. Covering an extremely broad section of the Hungarian retail sector, with nearly 3.8 billion data points the database provides a basis for complex and robust analyses. We tested store-level monthly aggregate data with county and network attributes. Based on the robust results of the research, we found that store size can be considered the most important explanatory variable behind card acceptance decisions; however, the correlation is not linear. The marginal effect of size is negligible among small and large-sized stores, but there is a strong positive correlation among mid-sized stores. We also analysed the effect of the store’s customer base and other attributes, and although numerous effects proved to be statistically significant, they wielded negligible influence in card acceptance decisions. On the other hand, being open on Sundays – a subjective variable that was used as a proxy for store ownership – had a significant negative effect on card acceptance decisions.
Cite as (APA):
Ilyés, T., & Varga, L. (2018). Acceptance of Payment Cards by Retailers in Hungary Based on Data of On-line Cash Registers. Financial and Economic Review, 17(1), 83–109. https://doi.org/10.25201/FER.17.1.83109
Column:
Study
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes:
C44, G20, D22
Keywords:
payment transactions, card acceptance, payment methods, decision models, logistic regression
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