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It's worth noting that cash is also expensive to handle at scale. In the uk, nearly 20 years ago, the supermarkets started offering "cashback" on every transac
by mootothemax 10y ago
It's worth noting that cash is also expensive to handle at scale.
In the uk, nearly 20 years ago, the supermarkets started offering "cashback" on every transaction, where you bill would be increased by eg 10 pounds, and in return they'd give you a 10 pound note along with your receipt.
The genius being that they could save huge amounts on their cash handling/management fees by moving the value through the card networks instead.
(I believe this was via debit cards, which had lower fees and are by far the more popular card type in the UK, possibly in the EU as a whole)
- thesimon 10y ago>I believe this was via debit cards, which had lower fees and are by far the more popular card type in the UK, possibly in the EU as a whole Indeed. The debit card charged a flat fee per transaction, so giving the customer money instead of paying the bank 0.x% for cashing it in was a logical choice.
- Havoc 10y ago>I believe this was via debit cards yup...the point of sale systems skip the cash-back step entirely if the card is a credit or cheque card.