121–130 of 547 posts
I am reading so much incorrect information in this thread it’s maddening. The card network (Visa, Mastercard, etc) do NOT make money on Interchange. It’s hard to have a healthy dialogue on this topic if folks don’t understand the basics of how the card networks generate revenue. Below is a decent primer. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/032615/how-mas...
I am reading so much incorrect information in this thread it’s maddening. The card network (Visa, Mastercard, etc) do NOT make money on Interchange. It’s hard to have a healthy dialogue on this topic if folks don’t understand the basics of how the card networks generate revenue. Below is a decent primer. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/032615/how-mas...
( MASTER Card Ha! They are both making a SLAVE out of you.
I don't get it -- Amex and Discover are still providing healthy competition, so the "duopoly" the author complains about seems to be largely irrelevant. Competition between cards is thriving and consumers benefit -- witness the miniscule transaction fee the credit card companies keep after paying your rewards back of 2% to 5%, when you pay your bill on time. The article's main point is that such large companies are a…
CC rewards seem like a indirect regressive tax. Wealthier consumers who can afford to pay on time and have better credit ratings are subsidized by poor consumers who actually use the "credit" part of "credit card".
This has been a problem for a long time and unfortunately the outrage around the duopoly died out the last time we confronted it, which was in 2010 when Visa/Mastercard blocked Wikileaks ( https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2010/12/07/visa-m... ). It is still a problem in 2020. Gab was recently impacted by Visa blacklisting them ( https://news.gab.com/2020/06/19/gab-blacklisted-by-visa/ ) and also drew parall…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The 2% cashback has to come from somewhere." Yes, but in reality, the program comes from an upside down approach to overcoming the obviously anti-competitive practices that VISA/MC use to forbid retailers from offering discounts for not using VISA etc.. You can't say "Get 2% if you use cash instead of VISA". (Notice that nobody ever advertises that?) Because VISA doesn't allow it. You also can't say "$1.99 + 20 cent…
> You can't say "Get 2% if you use cash instead of VISA". (Notice that nobody ever advertises that?) Because VISA doesn't allow it. > You also can't say "$1.99 + 20 cents processing charge" - no, the price must be listed including charges. (Notice that nobody every does this?) We see these a lot in Australia. I wish they'd enforce the same pricing here for cash and card — I don't like to carry cash around, and I hate…
So you think your use of a credit card should be subsidized by people who pay in cash?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The 2% cashback has to come from somewhere." Yes, but in reality, the program comes from an upside down approach to overcoming the obviously anti-competitive practices that VISA/MC use to forbid retailers from offering discounts for not using VISA etc.. You can't say "Get 2% if you use cash instead of VISA". (Notice that nobody ever advertises that?) Because VISA doesn't allow it. You also can't say "$1.99 + 20 cent…
> You can't say "Get 2% if you use cash instead of VISA". (Notice that nobody ever advertises that?) Because VISA doesn't allow it. > You also can't say "$1.99 + 20 cents processing charge" - no, the price must be listed including charges. (Notice that nobody every does this?) We see these a lot in Australia. I wish they'd enforce the same pricing here for cash and card — I don't like to carry cash around, and I hate…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
CC rewards seem like a indirect regressive tax. Wealthier consumers who can afford to pay on time and have better credit ratings are subsidized by poor consumers who actually use the "credit" part of "credit card".
Are they? Visa/Mastercard charge merchants 1-2% interchange fees for each transaction. I'd guess that people putting $20k a month on their Visa (I know a few that do) are paying for themselves with the interchange fees.