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The thing is - and I don’t know how this is in India - cards often have rewards programs funded off that 3%, and you don’t usually get a discount for paying in
by vertex-four 9y ago
The thing is - and I don’t know how this is in India - cards often have rewards programs funded off that 3%, and you don’t usually get a discount for paying in cash. So if you pay in cash or “cheaper” payment options, you’re actually just paying more money to the supermarket than if you used a card and got some of that 3% back.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Finnucane 9y agoI'm okay with the market keeping the money than MC/VISA getting it. Here's the thing: I want the market to make money and stay open so I can keep shopping there. I don't care if MC goes up in flames.
- vertex-four 9y agoThe point is that the market has already raised prices 3% on the assumption that their customers will be able to afford it because they’re getting some portion of that cut back in rewards - the only situation where this doesn’t work is where many of their customers don’t use rewards cards.
- jrobn 9y agoI honestly think reward cards are a rent-seeking mechanism against merchants. Merchants (or CC processors a la stripe) pay the higher transaction fee just because a customer swiped their “Platinum Bonus Cash Back Rewards Ultimate Black++” card for the painting they want to buy from you. Fuck that.
- krrrh 9y agoIn Australia the government decided this was non-competitive and regulated interchange fees down to less than half a percent. They still have credit cards, but limited rewards programs. The 3% processing charges are really just inertia in North America, since costs have gone down a lot over the decades, but the fees have been reallocated into marketing/rewards.