Title
Recharge and consolidation decisions for stored value cards with an application to Beijing public transit.
Abstract
Stored value cards (SVCs) are ubiquitous, but little investigation has been undertaken into actual and desired replenishment behaviour, or the economic impact of card consolidation on consumers and service providers (such as retailers and public transit authorities). We develop classic and joint replenishment economic order quantity models for reloadable SVCs where the card value may be lost, for example, through theft or breakage. We extend the models to consider potential benefits of discounts, and providing refunds upon card loss (via external recording of card value). We also show how SVC consolidation and service expansion decisions can benefit consumers and service providers. As a case study, we utilise the Beijing subway system 'YiKaTong' card to demonstrate cost optimisation at the consumer and enterprise level. Direct observations of recharging and a survey suggest that commuters take the likelihood of card loss into account and are risk averse. The results of the work help to explain and predict consumer recharge behaviour, and should assist service providers evaluating decisions relating to their market scope, technology, pricing, and service capacity.
Year
DOI
Venue
2014
10.1057/jors.2013.107
JORS
Keywords
Field
DocType
public transport,inventory control,Joint replenishment,card consolidation,personal operational research,purchasing behaviour,implied value of time
Economic impact analysis,Economic order quantity,Computer science,Service provider,Inventory control,Public transport,Risk aversion,Groundwater recharge,Beijing,Marketing,Operations management
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
65
10
0160-5682
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
2
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
David J. Robb100.34
Yang Yang200.34