Macroeconomic variables determining credit card utilization: The case of Turkey

Changing economic conditions along with developing technology increase the use of credit cards as a financial payment instrument. The fact that there are many economic reasons for this situation affects decision makers. In Turkey, especially after the 2018 exchange rate shock and the Covid 19 pandemic, there has been an increase in credit card expenditures. The reason for this situation is the changes in macroeconomic variables affecting the use of credit cards. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the impact of macroeconomic variables that are claimed to affect credit card usage in Turkey in the literature under the quarter period 2015:1-2022:4. In this context, Fourier ADL and Fractional Fourier ADL cointegration test, which take into account the crises experienced by the country's economy during the period, are used. As a result of the analysis, a cointegration relationship was found between macroeconomic variables and credit cards. Moreover, all variables except the exchange rate have a positive and statistically significant effect on the number of credit card transactions. In addition, Fourier and Fractional Fourier Toda-Yamamoto causality tests show that there is unidirectional causality from national income to credit card usage, and bidirectional causality between the dollar and inflation rate and credit card usage.