Peter Han

This paper examines how information gathered through credit-card lending spills over into mortgage markets. A one-standard-deviation increase in credit cards per capita is associated with 10.2% more mortgage originations and interest rates that are 16.6 basis points lower, with substantially larger rate reductions for borrowers who already hold a card from their mortgage lender.

Using loan-level Experian data, this paper finds that portfolio lenders charge a premium of roughly 10 to 20 basis points on conforming mortgages with comparable ex-ante risk. The premium is stronger in more concentrated markets, where borrowers place greater value on in-person service, and following increases in local mortgage demand—evidence that service differentiation helps these lenders retain local pricing power.

Using nationwide U.S. subprime credit-bureau data, this paper finds that online payday loans carry annual percentage rates about 100 percentage points higher than storefront loans. Observable borrower and loan characteristics do not explain the premium; the evidence instead points to asymmetric information and differences in fixed costs across the two lending channels.

Evaluates technology adoption and its competitive effects on incumbent firms.