2 ms·
The US has extremely centralized electronic payments, it's just that the central points are Visa and MasterCard. I'm sure there are philosophical points in favo
by bediger4000 3mo ago
The US has extremely centralized electronic payments, it's just that the central points are Visa and MasterCard. I'm sure there are philosophical points in favor of decentralized systems, and systems not run by governments, but are we really better off giving 1.5-3% of each transaction to Visa or MasterCard?
- iamnothere 3mo agoObviously, centralized is centralized whether it’s private or public. Both are bad. However, parallel centralized private systems with strong safeguards are slightly better than a single public system. But only slightly. Public centralized payments create turnkey totalitarianism, which is never a good idea. What the industry badly needs is antitrust enforcement.
- bediger4000 3mo agoThere are virtually no safeguards around Visa and MasterCard. Emphatic agreement about antitrust enforcement. It's crystal clear at this time that market forces don't prevent monopolies.