Breakage (accounting)

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In telecommunications and accounting, breakage is any type of service which is unused by the customer. A good example would be gift cards or calling cards that have been sold but never redeemed. [1] Revenue from breakage is almost entirely profitable, since companies need not provide any goods or services for unredeemed gift cards. It is distinct from shrinkage, which refers to items which are not used by the customer because they disappeared from inventory.

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Another example of breakage can be found in traveler's checks, which were widely used before credit cards and other modern payment methods became more common. Companies like American Express and Thomas Cook Group profited from breakage in two key ways: through float income, where the issuer invests the funds from unredeemed checks, and from checks themselves going permanently unused. The longer the checks remained unredeemed, the more interest the issuer could earn, leading to substantial financial benefits. This practice raised concerns from consumer advocacy groups, who argued that companies were unfairly profiting from funds that rightfully belonged to consumers. [2]

In the case of modern gift cards, many U.S. states have introduced unclaimed property laws to protect consumers. These laws often require companies to turn over the value of unredeemed gift cards to the state, where consumers can claim the balance as unclaimed property. This process, known as escheatment, ensures that companies cannot indefinitely keep unused balances, and that the funds are returned to the rightful owner. [3] [4]

In telecommunications

In telecommunications, breakage can occur in several ways. The key elements in maximizing revenue versus service via breakage are:

The following examples are given in terms of voice calling, although they may also apply to data, short message or other services.

Careful research and planning can maximise some forms of breakage. For example, if a high percentage of mobile voice calls on the network are less than one minute in duration, then a rating plan could use an initial quanta of 60 seconds, followed by 1 second quanta. The plan appears to use a low quanta, but in fact many calls will be hit by the initial 60 second quanta.

Similarly, if many users are shown to use 14 GB of data per month on a data plan, then offering data plans of 10 GB or 30 GB will force many users to pay for much more data than they need, which will expire at the end of each month.

See also

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References

  1. "When is Slippage and Breakage Good for Profits?".
  2. "Traveler's and Gift Check Fraud" . Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  3. "Unused Gift Cards Become Unclaimed Property" . Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  4. "Fact Sheet on State Gift Card Protection Laws" . Retrieved 2024-09-10.