RECAP
Also known as: Record, evaluate, and compare alternative prices
A disclosure tool that gives consumers a clear annual record of what they actually used and were charged, to enable comparison.
What it means
RECAP is a specific smart-disclosure mechanism in which providers give each customer a standardized statement recording their actual usage and the full set of fees they incurred over a period, in a format that can be fed to comparison tools. Its purpose is to defeat the obfuscation of complex, multi-part pricing — where hidden and usage-dependent charges make plans impossible to compare at the point of sale — by basing comparison on the customer's real behavior rather than on advertised headline rates. Because it reveals total realized cost and supports apples-to-apples shopping, it strengthens competition and helps people escape inertia in markets like mobile phones, banking, and energy. It is an enabling tool, not a nudge that acts on its own; its value depends on third parties using the data. It matters as a concrete template for making opaque markets navigable without banning any pricing structure.
Examples
A RECAP statement from a credit-card issuer lists every fee and interest charge the customer actually paid last year, which a comparison site uses to find a cheaper card for their real habits.
A mobile operator's annual statement shows the customer really used two gigabytes a month and paid £48 in out-of-bundle charges — enough for a comparison site to price a plan around her actual use.
An energy bill carrying a machine-readable record of the household's real consumption and every standing charge lets a switching service rank tariffs on what this home burns, not on a headline unit rate.
First described in Thaler & Sunstein, 'Nudge' (2008).