It is kind of crazy that anyone can buy my purchase history... Are there any way around this besides using cash?
Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
191–200 of 547 posts
Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Paying by card is common, paying using a Credit Card not necessarily. I'm French and I'm semi-ashamed to admit that when at a store abroad the clerk asked me "debit or credit?" for payment I had to ask him to explain to me what this quaint exotic incantation meant. When I finally understood how that system worked I also finally understood this weird trope in American movies where a character has a half a dozen credit…
Debit card (bank card) transactions in the US require a PIN. Credit cards require a signature but most gas stations require a zip code. It would be nice if the US had PINs like Europe does for credit cards. I make around $1500-$2000 a year in cash back from my credit cards and $195 in fees. 6% back for groceries, 3% for gas, 3% on online shopping, and 3% for restaurants. All my household utilities and bills are run t…
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Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#193Earlier 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".
There's a bit of misunderstanding in your statement. Most of the money made by companies in payments systems comes from transaction fees, not from interest. When companies offer you better rewards, that's them competing to have you use their credit card rather than the competition's.
Sorry to tell you but that's not true. Literally the top Google result says the contrary:
> "Out of the various fees, interest charges are the primary source of revenue." [1]
Yes, credit cards charge a large transaction fee, but wind up refunding a large portion of that back to the consumer in the form of rewards, so these days that's not the main source of profit.
[1] https://www.valuepenguin.com/how-do-credit-card-companies-ma....
Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#194Earlier 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…
We see a lot of those in Australia because the ACCC took on Visa/MC and won.
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/prices-surcharges-receipts...
Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the EU, interchange fees are capped at 0.2% of transaction value for debit cards, and 0.3% for credit cards. This has indeed meant that rewards and cashback credit cards have largely disappeared (with the exception of Amex, which operates outside the interchange system?). Rewards/cashback cards that do still exist are typically tied to specific retailers, with whom the issuing bank has cut their own deals.
> with the exception of Amex, which operates outside the interchange system? Right, but try using Amex in Europe. Outside of major international hotel chains, or where you can do your purchase online through Paypal, you may as well not bother asking if they accept it.
Outside of major international hotel chains, or where you can do your purchase online through Paypal, you may as well not bother asking if they accept it.
It's very interesting to hear that.
When I first started traveling to Europe, having an American Express card (or even better, AmEx travelers checks) was the best way for an American to pay for things. It's even written into some classic books and movies.
My how things have changed.
Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
How would you pay for things online, many of which are not available in person? Or stores/airplanes/services that don't accept cash?
I can't think of a bank that doesn't use a card that works as a credit card when it comes to online transactions.
They're still visa or MasterCards though...
Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#197I would rather see Visa, MasterCard, and other big banks regulated and require them to accept all legal businesses. Fraud can still be blocked but on an individualised, reasoned level.
No more denying legal pornography businesses, no more denying legal fireworks stores, etc.
Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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…
I remember being charged 5aud for paying by card at a hostel, being Swedish this was a very weird experience. While I do like the anonymity of cash, cards are very convenient.
I think it's fair to pay for convenience.
Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't like to carry cash around, and I hate it that I have to pay a surcharge when paying by card. So you think your use of a credit card should be subsidized by people who pay in cash?
People who pay in cash are subsidizing the store’s costs to handle cash. Paying employees to count the cash (usually after closing), putting it in the safe, distributing the cash to cash registers, refilling when they run out of change, paying for the security service (Brinks etc) to deliver cash to/from the bank, insurance against robbery... Cash is not free for a store to handle. Stores pay transaction fees on cred…
Your argument is one for considering exposing the cost of any payment mechanism to the customers.
(Especially when the cost between different payment mechanisms differ a lot.)
Re: Forget Google, time to end the Visa-MasterCard duopoly
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder how much more expensive credit cards actually are? Cash costs money/time to handle and deposit, it's easily stolen, and easy to commit fraud with (like the classic move where a drive thru employee pockets the cash from a sale without ringing it up)
The computerization of order taking and kitchen tickets would seem to make it harder to charge a customer without ringing it up? I know you could cancel it in the system, but that's gotta be counted somewhere where a manager is going to see it eventually?
Depends on how much you can trust your employees.