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They used to but they are being phased out - the EU piously thinks that the merchants will pass on lower costs to the consumer - which is to borrow a line from
by lostboys67 10y ago
They used to but they are being phased out - the EU piously thinks that the merchants will pass on lower costs to the consumer - which is to borrow a line from Sir Humphrey "A brave choice commissioner"
- rz2k 10y agoHow is that a "pious" belief? Let's say that retailers' financial services costs drop by 1% of revenue, and they choose to raise their prices by 5%, because they're really greedy or mean. Their competitor across the street is also really mean, but only raises their prices by 4%. As a thought experiment, play that scenario through a few more turns. The effect of lowering their costs for financial transactions is to lower retailers' minimum price for selling their products. They're "allowed" to charge as much as they like, though there are legal restrictions that make it illegal to collude with their competitors. And, even if they do collude there are motivations to defect from those illegal agreements that tend to undermine them. A higher level view will appreciate that the higher sticker prices from higher transaction costs largely ended up being refunded to consumers through credit card reward programs, but probably distorted the prices for buyers paying with cash.
- lostboys67 10y agoYou do know what pious means in this context - the shops will just pocket the savings for them selves
- germanier 10y agoThe regulation had a noticeable effect in Germany: As soon as it was in effect every chain started to accept MasterCard and Visa cards. That includes the most frugal stores that have razor thin margins. The food market is extremely competitive and if a store can afford to undercut their competition they will the first second they can.