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Why would they lower prices? Wal-Mart could lower prices now for cash or debit card purchases but they don’t. > Wal-Mart/Visa don’t eat the fees Well, in Wal-

Why would they lower prices? Wal-Mart could lower prices now for cash or debit card purchases but they don’t. > Wal-Mart/Visa don’t eat the fees Well, in Wal-Mart’s case either they pay the fees, or they raise prices to compensate. If we assume that they raise prices to compensate for transaction costs, then anyone who doesn’t use a rewards debit/credit card eats the fees in the sense that they don’t get any sort of reimbursement yet pay the same price. > Also, money transfer infrastructure is just as important as healthcare. As is water, electricity, and transportation. I’m assuming you wouldn’t want the electric or gas company to charge what the market will bear when it’s -10C outside for a few weeks. Eh I don’t think it’s as important as those items. But that’s besides the point, unless you want to nationalize money transfer or something. It’s not a necessary service, it’s just very convenient and good for the economy. When someone creates Venmo you want to legislate the prices they can charge per-transaction?

lotsofpulp 7y ago
> Why would they lower prices? Wal-Mart could lower prices now for cash or debit card purchases but they don’t. That’s a good point, and I can see two options for it. One is that it’s more costly to maintain two sets of prices, or that it’s better for retailers to encourage purchases with credit cards as people using credit cards are likelier to spend more. > When someone creates Venmo you want to legislate the prices they can charge per-transaction? No, I’d rather the government already have setup a system. It’s the reason why payments and transferring money still involves paper in the US. Northern Europe has been able to enjoy the convenience of instant, secure, and cheap money transfers for decades that people in the US are just starting to get. Certain types of infrastructure in society is best handled as a society. Roads, water, energy, payment networks. I don’t see the point in duplicating them.
Slartie 7y ago
> Why would they lower prices? Wal-Mart could lower prices now for cash or debit card purchases but they don’t. You're from the US, right? Then you should be familiar with gas stations which have two sets of prices: an expensive one for credit card customers, and a cheaper one for cash customers. Last time I road-tripped through the California/Oregon area, those were a thing and quite common. Why doesn't Walmart do the same? Probably because they have 50k prices to consider, while a gas station has like 3 or 4. But the gas stations demonstrate that there obviously is a possibility for reduced payment costs to end up at the customer in the form of reduced prices. Now imagine taking away the burden of having Walmart (and any other retailer for that matter) add 50k additional prices to their inventory by simply capping all CC fees at 0,3%. If you don't see the likelihood for a reduction in prices for customers in the long run, you either don't have much trust in free markets, or you must assume that the market in question is not free at all, but burdened by collusion.

lotsofpulp 7y ago

> Why would they lower prices? Wal-Mart could lower prices now for cash or debit card purchases but they don’t. That’s a good point, and I can see two options for it. One is that it’s more costly to maintain two sets of prices, or that it’s better for retailers to encourage purchases with credit cards as people using credit cards are likelier to spend more. > When someone creates Venmo you want to legislate the prices they can charge per-transaction? No, I’d rather the government already have setup a system. It’s the reason why payments and transferring money still involves paper in the US. Northern Europe has been able to enjoy the convenience of instant, secure, and cheap money transfers for decades that people in the US are just starting to get. Certain types of infrastructure in society is best handled as a society. Roads, water, energy, payment networks. I don’t see the point in duplicating them.

Slartie 7y ago

> Why would they lower prices? Wal-Mart could lower prices now for cash or debit card purchases but they don’t. You're from the US, right? Then you should be familiar with gas stations which have two sets of prices: an expensive one for credit card customers, and a cheaper one for cash customers. Last time I road-tripped through the California/Oregon area, those were a thing and quite common. Why doesn't Walmart do the same? Probably because they have 50k prices to consider, while a gas station has like 3 or 4. But the gas stations demonstrate that there obviously is a possibility for reduced payment costs to end up at the customer in the form of reduced prices. Now imagine taking away the burden of having Walmart (and any other retailer for that matter) add 50k additional prices to their inventory by simply capping all CC fees at 0,3%. If you don't see the likelihood for a reduction in prices for customers in the long run, you either don't have much trust in free markets, or you must assume that the market in question is not free at all, but burdened by collusion.