Going Cashless: Evidence from Japan’s Point Reward Program

Toshitaka Sekine, Toshiaki Shoji and Tsutomu Watanabe
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Toshitaka Sekine: Hitotsubashi University
Toshiaki Shoji: Seikei University
Tsutomu Watanabe: University of Tokyo

No 36, Working Papers on Central Bank Communication from University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Economics

Abstract: In October 2019, the Japanese government started a unique program that offered points (discounts) for cashless payments. Using credit card transaction data, we compare credit card usage at restaurants that participated in this program and those that did not. Our main findings are as follows. First, the number of card users was 9- 12 percent higher in participating than in non-participating restaurants. Second, the positive impact of the program on the number of card users persisted even after the program ended in June 2020, indicating that the program had a lasting effect to promote cashless payments. Third, the impact of the program was significantly larger at restaurants that started accepting credit cards more recently, since the share of cash users at those restaurants was larger just before the program started. Finally, two-thirds of the difference between participating and non-participating restaurants disappeared during the first surge of COVID-19 in April 2020, suggesting that customers switched from cash to cashless payments to reduce the risk of infection both at participating and non-participating restaurants, but the extent to which customers switched was larger at non-participating restaurants with a larger share of cash users just before the pandemic.

Keywords: Cash and cashless payments; technology adoption; promotion program; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E42 O33 O38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2021-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa, nep-mac and nep-pay
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