"The average credit card processing cost for a retail business where cards are swiped is roughly 1.95% - 2%." Those are US numbers. In fact, credit card costs

"The average credit card processing cost for a retail business where cards are swiped is roughly 1.95% - 2%." Those are US numbers. In fact, credit card costs are plummeting across the world [1] and every year more and more shops force a debit swipe where available (spoilers: more and more people) so they pay a dime instead of 1-2%. In addition E-checks are basically free. [1] http://www.csmonitor.com/var/archive/storage/images/media/images/0413-creditcharges/9964383-1-eng-US/0413-creditcharges_full_600.jpg http://www.csmonitor.com/var/archive/storage/images/media/im... Further as sibling notes the argument that bitcoin is free from middlemen is not very convincing. Middlemen would have to exist in a bitcoin world both because of bitcoin's very nature of requiring them and because of the same reasons middlemen exist in the world today.