The case for why Google should be regulated as a public utility

Re:The case for why Google should be regulated as a public u... by revnode on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @12:03PM (#24121865)

This is correct. The best you can usually do is 2% cash back, so really the consumer is being charged 1% for the convenience of using a credit card. Obviously most consider that worth it, which is why credit cards are so popular.

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Re:The case for why Google should be regulated as a public u... by tempsy on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @12:05PM (#24121909)

right now we have a situation where the rich (who pay for things with expensive premium credit cards) are being subsidized by the poor (using cash or basic credit cards) because interchange is much higher for the top of line credit cards.

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Re:The case for why Google should be regulated as a public u... by treis on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @12:50PM (#24122469)

Retail isn't paying 3% on their transactions. It's more like 1% for card present transactions.

Generally cashless is cheaper for the retailer. Fewer losses to employee fraud and robbery. You don't have to pay for employees to deposit cash.

The downside is that you're liable to fraud and chargebacks.

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Re:The case for why Google should be regulated as a public u... by xadhominemx on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @05:30PM (#24126207)

Banks basically break even on interchange after paying out awards and security costs and then the merchant acquirer + network get like .2% - 1% depending on the size of the merchant. V/M is one of the most benign duopolies out there.

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Re:The case for why Google should be regulated as a public u... by fl0wenol on Wednesday August 12, 2020 @05:46PM (#24137376)

I mean, if it wasn't I guarantee some fintech company would come out of the woodwork to disrupt it because the potential upside is huge once you scale.

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