Comment by 867-5309
2 months ago
that's only a very recent change, and not universally rolled out. for decades shops charged ~£3 "connection fee" for paying by credit card, no matter the purchase amount, and many still (probably illegally) enforce a minimum spend if paying by credit or debit card. like when paying or withdrawing money abroad, it's just a lottery as to the "fees" you'll be charged not because there are such fees, but because someone in the '70s created super advanced tech to detect usage outside the country of issuance, and everyone got used to that
A bit pedantic, but especially relevant in a conversation about government-permitted monopoly power: while requiring minimum spend might be in breach of the payment networks' contracts, and may give rise to _civil_ liability (and punitive measures towards the merchants), we shouldn't use language like "illegal" that implies that government would have any interest in, or capacity for, proactive enforcement.
When we use language that evokes the mechanisms of state and implies they'd be used to enforce a monopoly power, we imbue that power with the gravity of those mechanisms, and further entrench it as a "way of life." We should be especially careful of that when said monopoly/duopoly essentially creates and enables a private taxation of the primary source of credit to many in the world!
Better words is: against terms of visa/Mastercard rather than illegal. Businesses have valid reason for minimum payment. There is minimum fee in visa or master card like 30cents or so. If shop selling candy bar for $0.5 they are loosing money if someone pay with card.
Visa and Mastercard have a net profit margin in the order of 50%. Do you think that's justified for the service they're providing, and is indicative of a healthy market/competition?
It's indicative of a healthy bankroll to fund superPACs and that's what matters!
As I remember it credit card minimums were only a thing at smaller shops but usually didn’t apply to debit cards.
Credit card chargebacks are very expensive for a vendor, you don't want credit card purchases for 1$ items.