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Journal of Banking & Finance Vol. 35 No. 10 2011

Strategic incompatibility in ATM markets

Christopher R. Knittel1,2; Victor Stango3

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology · 2 National Bureau of Economic Research · 3 Graduate School of Management, University of California, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616-8578, USA

Abstract

We test whether firms use incompatibility strategically, using data from ATM markets. High ATM fees degrade the value of competitors’ deposit accounts, and can in principle serve as a mechanism for siphoning depositors away from competitors or for creating deposit account differentiation. Our empirical framework can empirically distinguish surcharging motivated by this strategic concern from surcharging that simply maximizes ATM profit considered as a stand-alone operation. The results are consistent with such behavior by large banks, but not by small banks. For large banks, the effect of incompatibility seems to operate through higher deposit account fees rather than increased deposit account base.

DOI
10.1016/j.jbankfin.2011.02.021
Volume
35
Issue
10
Pages
2627-2636
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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