Despite the echoing of the sound financial advice that prescribes keeping just one credit card and ditching the rest, many people are sticking to their plastic. So much so that people are even deferring to credit cards for small purchases at the corner 7-Eleven.
Retail business owners continue to see their profits shrink as more and more of their revenues get channeled to credit and debit card fees – particularly the interchange fee – a usual write-off as a cost of doing business if an outlet would provide the convenience of letting customers pay via cards.
For years, merchants have been trying to fight these fees to no avail but with new legislation that makes it hard for banks to raise interest rates and impose fees, merchants see a bit of daylight. Merchants are now petitioning against these fees.
However, banks together with payment networks like Visa and Mastercard are ready to slug it out with merchant groups. With new law putting a dent at how banks can make more profit, they are not keen on losing another source of revenue.
You might notice the effects of this yourself as many retailers have now imposed raised minimum purchases for one to be able to use credit cards.
Source: NY Times
