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Did Visa create no value in society with plastic payment cards? If crypto is valueless, payment processors are valueless too. It's unfortunate that Visa gets a

Did Visa create no value in society with plastic payment cards? If crypto is valueless, payment processors are valueless too. It's unfortunate that Visa gets a 2% tax on the economy, but the convenience of plastic or a public/private keypair unlocks more economic growth compared to a world with only paper cash.

whateveracct 6y ago
Visa has a more compelling and proven value proposition than crypto
thinkingkong 6y ago
Yes. If you read up on the history of the credit card industry they solved the incredibly huge problem of small businesses extending loans to individuals.
sigstoat 6y ago
> on the economy a 2% "tax", on retail sales, at best. b2b, c2c, and large dollar b2c generally don't go through visa. calling it a "tax" is nauseating. you get something from visa, and you can choose not use them, if you'd like. it's the rare place that won't take at least a few other alternative payments, including cash. it's a rarer tax yet that you can choose not to pay.
- wallacoloo 6y ago
  > it's the rare place that won't take at least a few other alternative payments, including cash. Yes, and when you pay with an alternative, that’s when you get hit with the 2% credit card tax. Because you and the credit card user both pay the same price, but the merchant has to raise prices by 2% to cover fees caused by the latter. The credit card user is reimbursed for the fees they created via cash-back programs, while the cash user has to just swallow them.
- JMTQp8lwXL 6y ago
  Semantically, would 'haircut' be a preferable term to describe what's occurring? Visa isn't some government-mandated thing, so I agree that 'tax' is overloaded, but it isn't meant literally. Given the nearly omniscient use of plastic payment methods, that's why "tax" is used: everybody pays taxes.
Ekaros 6y ago
2% is entirely up to local regulation. EU has capped it to 0.2% or 0.3%. Which I would guess that cash doesn't do too much better.
- mercutio2 6y ago
  Interchange fees are a small fraction of credit card costs to merchants. The EU only capped interchange fees.

whateveracct 6y ago

Visa has a more compelling and proven value proposition than crypto

thinkingkong 6y ago

Yes. If you read up on the history of the credit card industry they solved the incredibly huge problem of small businesses extending loans to individuals.

sigstoat 6y ago

> on the economy a 2% "tax", on retail sales, at best. b2b, c2c, and large dollar b2c generally don't go through visa. calling it a "tax" is nauseating. you get something from visa, and you can choose not use them, if you'd like. it's the rare place that won't take at least a few other alternative payments, including cash. it's a rarer tax yet that you can choose not to pay.

wallacoloo 6y ago
> it's the rare place that won't take at least a few other alternative payments, including cash. Yes, and when you pay with an alternative, that’s when you get hit with the 2% credit card tax. Because you and the credit card user both pay the same price, but the merchant has to raise prices by 2% to cover fees caused by the latter. The credit card user is reimbursed for the fees they created via cash-back programs, while the cash user has to just swallow them.
JMTQp8lwXL 6y ago
Semantically, would 'haircut' be a preferable term to describe what's occurring? Visa isn't some government-mandated thing, so I agree that 'tax' is overloaded, but it isn't meant literally. Given the nearly omniscient use of plastic payment methods, that's why "tax" is used: everybody pays taxes.

Ekaros 6y ago

2% is entirely up to local regulation. EU has capped it to 0.2% or 0.3%. Which I would guess that cash doesn't do too much better.

mercutio2 6y ago
Interchange fees are a small fraction of credit card costs to merchants. The EU only capped interchange fees.