Visa/Mastercard are a duopoly, which means they can extract rents. Yes, I’m willing to pay $100 for a liter of water if you’re the only one selling it. I get a

Visa/Mastercard are a duopoly, which means they can extract rents. Yes, I’m willing to pay $100 for a liter of water if you’re the only one selling it. I get a lot of value out of it! In a competitive market, competition eventually drives down prices to a price that somewhat approaches the cost of providing the service. This isn’t happening in payment, due to insurmountable network effects.