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> Taking cards is voluntary, there's no "forcing processing fees" involved. Lol, sure. That's why they make stores promise to never, ever, under any circumstan

> Taking cards is voluntary, there's no "forcing processing fees" involved. Lol, sure. That's why they make stores promise to never, ever, under any circumstances make interchange fees visible to customers. Hiding in the shadows is not the sign of voluntary mutual-benefit value creation, it's the sign of a good hustle that someone is hoping to milk just a little bit more before the Sauron's Eye of public attention turns their way.

setr 6y ago
I usually see it, but inverted: "we offer a 4% discount for cash payments" signs But usually only in small individual shops
- jjoonathan 6y ago
  If that's allowed under the credit card processing merchant agreements it's a new development. If I had to guess, it's still forbidden, but small shops don't know/care until the CC company actually asks them to stop. If people could get a 5% discount everywhere with their debit card, the gig would be up, and the CC companies know it.
throwaheyy 6y ago
I’ll draw an analogy. Most tech firms will make you sign an NDA as a condition of employment. That doesn’t mean that you are forced to work there.
- jjoonathan 6y ago
  Uh-huh. Much freedom. Very liberty. Credit card companies would get bowled over in a second if we didn't let them leverage their size into anticompetitive contract terms, but this is America! We love oligopolies, low-competition markets, anticompetitive behavior, and rent-seeking. Freedom, baby!
formercoder 6y ago
Not sure why raised public attention would reduce credit card usage. People like the convenience, and I don’t see why they would care that it shaves a few basis points off of merchants’ margins. You’ll notice that in transactions with razor thin margins, credit cards aren’t accepted, restaurants being the major exception.
- jjoonathan 6y ago
  If people could get "5% off" (really: not paying CC fees) by using a debit card and also use it for rent and government payments, CCs would be gone in a few years. If merchant margins are razor thin, reductions in cost go to the customer, not to the merchant's margins.

setr 6y ago

I usually see it, but inverted: "we offer a 4% discount for cash payments" signs But usually only in small individual shops

jjoonathan 6y ago
If that's allowed under the credit card processing merchant agreements it's a new development. If I had to guess, it's still forbidden, but small shops don't know/care until the CC company actually asks them to stop. If people could get a 5% discount everywhere with their debit card, the gig would be up, and the CC companies know it.

throwaheyy 6y ago

I’ll draw an analogy. Most tech firms will make you sign an NDA as a condition of employment. That doesn’t mean that you are forced to work there.

jjoonathan 6y ago
Uh-huh. Much freedom. Very liberty. Credit card companies would get bowled over in a second if we didn't let them leverage their size into anticompetitive contract terms, but this is America! We love oligopolies, low-competition markets, anticompetitive behavior, and rent-seeking. Freedom, baby!

formercoder 6y ago

Not sure why raised public attention would reduce credit card usage. People like the convenience, and I don’t see why they would care that it shaves a few basis points off of merchants’ margins. You’ll notice that in transactions with razor thin margins, credit cards aren’t accepted, restaurants being the major exception.

jjoonathan 6y ago
If people could get "5% off" (really: not paying CC fees) by using a debit card and also use it for rent and government payments, CCs would be gone in a few years. If merchant margins are razor thin, reductions in cost go to the customer, not to the merchant's margins.