Re:Home Depot Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Visa, MasterCard
by abalone on Friday June 17, 2016 @08:15PM
(#11926331)
None of those points actually refute the simple fact that most of the interchange fee gets refunded to consumers.
As for the theory that prices are inflated by interchange, there are two problems with it. One, reward card users don't experience inflation because most of the interchange is refunded to them. Two, when Australia regulated down interchange, it didn't actually result in lower prices.
> what the hell is that fee I pay for the card every year?
Most cards in the U.S. don't have annual fees. The ones that do usually offer enhanced benefits like richer reward programs.
NNNNnno. 1) the price on everything is inflated 3% for what amounts to an archaic and insecure way to process transactions 2) It's not opt-in: that is, with few rare cases, I gain nothing, and in fact, must spend more money to not participate and 3) Even if I do participate, all I can hope for is, at best, 1.5% or so cash back. You might say, "Oh, well that's a fee for convenience and security. OK, then what the hell is that fee I pay for the card every year?
It's bullshit. Get rid of it. Make consumer credit illegal. People are too stupid, greedy and short sighted to consume it well.