Elasticity of Consumer Demand and Welfare of Instant Retail Payments

Last registered on February 19, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Elasticity of Consumer Demand and Welfare of Instant Retail Payments
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015380
Initial registration date
February 13, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
February 19, 2025, 8:56 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Sydney

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
William and Mary
PI Affiliation
National University of Singapore
PI Affiliation
Ateneo de Manila University

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-03-01
End date
2025-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this we aim to estimate the consumer demand curve for off-net (“interoperable”) payments, by randomizing the price that consumers face for off-net payments, within an FSP's digital payments apps, with users of the Philippines instant retail payment switch, InstaPay. An experimentally generated estimate of demand would be informative for a number of purposes, including for FSPs’ own pricing decisions, and for pricing regulation decisions by policymakers. The demand curve can also be inverted to generate an aggregate estimate of consumer welfare from access to off-net payments, identified with experimental variation in a real-stakes, field setting. We will also study spillovers of instant payments usage on other financial inclusion behaviors, including other payments channels, and . We aim to implement the study with a sample that can be re-weighted to be nationally-representative, so we can make statements about the welfare accrued from access to instant payments from financially included individuals in the Philippines.

Registration Citation

Citation
Gonzales, Joaquin et al. 2025. "Elasticity of Consumer Demand and Welfare of Instant Retail Payments ." AEA RCT Registry. February 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15380-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Variation in the price that users pay for instant payment switch, InstaPay.
Intervention Start Date
2025-03-01
Intervention End Date
2025-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Use of InstaPay, measured by number and volume of daily and weekly transactions. These variables will also allow us to quantify the extent of bundling (the tendency to group transactions together, typically in response to higher instant payment fees).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
These outcomes will be measured from administrative InstaPay transaction data, on the number and volume of transactions.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study will randomly vary the price that users pay for instant payment switch.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual (bank client).
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
NA
Sample size: planned number of observations
TBD
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
TBD
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
TBD
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Innovations for Poverty Action Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2025-04-30
IRB Approval Number
16345