Payment Method Costs Assessment: Survey of Retailers, 1983 [United States]

This telephone interview survey was conducted during April and May 1983 by the Survey Research Center of the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, with a grant from the Federal Reserve Board. The purpose of the survey was to collect data on the sensitivity of retailers' pricing structures to methods of payment used by consumers to make purchases. The major areas of investigation were sales volume transacted by cash, personal checks, third-party credit cards, and other methods, cost differences incurred by retailers for accepting different payment methods, and retailer experience with and attitudes toward cash discounts and credit surcharges. The sampling universe consisted of nonfood retail establishments in the coterminous United States. The overall response rate was 82 percent, although retail firms with an annual sales volume of more than $5,000,000 were somewhat less likely to respond. Other characteristics of respondents and nonrespondents did not differ significantly.