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How Debit Cards Enable the Poor to Save More / Pierre Bachas, Paul Gertler, Sean Higgins, Enrique Seira.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Bachas, Pierre.
- Series:
- Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w23252.
- NBER working paper series no. w23252
- Language:
- English
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
- Place of Publication:
- Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2017.
- Summary:
- We study an at-scale natural experiment in which debit cards are given to cash transfer recipients who already have a bank account. Using administrative account data and household surveys, we find that beneficiaries accumulate a savings stock equal to 2 percent of annual income after two years with the card. The increase in formal savings represents an increase in overall savings, financed by a reduction in current consumption. There are two mechanisms: first, debit cards reduce transaction costs of accessing money; second, they reduce monitoring costs, leading beneficiaries to check their account balances frequently and build trust in the bank.
- Notes:
- Print version record
- March 2017.
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