Abstract Low-income consumers are not only constrained with spending, but also with the type and variety of payment methods available to them. Using a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, this short article analyzes the low possession (adoption) of credit and debit cards among low-income consumers who are also unbanked. Using a random utility model, I simulate the potential consumer welfare gains associated with policy options suggested in the literature to provide unsubsidized or subsidized debit cards, or subsidized prepaid cards to this consumer population. Simulation results show the relative improvement in consumer welfare among all three policy options.

中文翻译：

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低收入消费者和支付选择

摘要 低收入消费者不仅受限于消费，还受限于他们可用的支付方式的类型和种类。这篇简短的文章使用美国成年人口的代表性样本，分析了同样没有银行账户的低收入消费者对信用卡和借记卡的持有（采用）率低的情况。使用随机效用模型，我模拟了与文献中建议的政策选项相关的潜在消费者福利收益，以向该消费者群体提供无补贴或有补贴的借记卡或有补贴的预付卡。模拟结果表明，在所有三种政策选项中，消费者福利都有相对改善。