I stand corrected. The point of sale devices, the card association IT systems and networks, the bank IT and networks (a worldwide network that predated the 'net

I stand corrected. The point of sale devices, the card association IT systems and networks, the bank IT and networks (a worldwide network that predated the 'net), the whole departments of people who support merchants, the fraud prevention measures, the training, the government and card association rules compliance--all integral parts of "the payment networks" are cost free. I should have reasoned backwards from a company's profit margins and realized that these infrastructure costs don't exist, and operating costs are an illusion. I should have also realized that the move into chip cards, the use of heavy-duty encryption, the rapid adoption of contactless payments products, the support for e-commerce in a world where identify verification can be a challenge, exposing the bank to untold risk, all are not innovations, they're just the cost-free hobbies of some rich bank persons. Thank you for the enlightenment, you smecking genius. I will now hang my head in shame for speaking out of turn after actually working on these systems for a quarter century and not realizing that it was so inexpensive.