Visa planning swipe fee changes

[Revelate]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-04/visa-is-planning-the-biggest-changes-to-swipe-fee...

Bloomberg allows a few free articles so not sure everyone will be able to see but interesting we see this just after the Amex article and also note this seems to be trying to drive more spend through credit cards namely for education (which is hit or miss) and real estate which is nearly non-existent for Visa (Plastiq only allows MC for mortgage payments).

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Visa Inc. is planning the biggest changes in a decade to the rates U.S. merchants pay to accept its cards, hoping to persuade more people to abandon checks and adjusting its fees for new businesses such as ride-hailing services.

The company’s interchange rates -- fees charged every time a consumer uses a card -- will go up or down depending on the merchant and the way a consumer pays for their purchases, according to a document Visa sent to banks that outlines the changes. Higher rates are looming for transactions on e-commerce sites, while retailers in certain services categories, such as real estate and education, will see fees decline.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

I was about to post this.  I'm curious to see what the rates will be.

[Revelate]

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@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

I was about to post this.  I'm curious to see what the rates will be.

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Yeah, me too.  I'd love to be able to pay a mortgage with a Visa especially if the fee structure comes in around 2% or less.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, this news blip popped up on my phone the other day. But I've been too busy to read it. 

I can see why a sliding fee shecule could work, and I agree a lower fee for paying Mortgage/Rent would be nice. Without having to resort to Plastiq and waiting for the check to arrive.

Though I can seepotential abuse with this new system, charging whatever they want whenever they want? As opposed to the set fees in place now. And the downside is that the highest fees will be on what people use everyday e-commerce, which in a sense could cause for the return to checks. 

However, this had me scratching my head. "hoping to persuade more people to abandon checks"   Aside from a few older ladies at the Supermarket, who's still using checks today? Even in my area, which is populated mostly by seniors. I very rarely see check use anymore, I'd say a sharp decline from even just 2-4 years ago. 

[Revelate]

Not sure on the checks one but got to figure there's data on that I don't see... I live in Los Angeles where it's go go go go, there are plenty of other places in the US where it's far more relaxed on that front and it wouldn't surprise me to see more checks there just as a function of that.

What I find head-scratching about that particular bit though, why would a lower interchange fee translate into fewer checks at the grocery store?  Consumers don't see that part of the transaction at all unless the theory is the merchants would try to encourage it directly.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing, Revelate! 

[VPExecutive]

Should do:

6% fee for swiping card. 

3% fee online. 

2.5% fee for chip reading. 

2% fee for contactless. 

[FlaDude]

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@Revelate wrote:

What I find head-scratching about that particular bit though, why would a lower interchange fee translate into fewer checks at the grocery store?  Consumers don't see that part of the transaction at all unless the theory is the merchants would try to encourage it directly.

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Exactly, people who still use checks aren't doing it to save the merchants money. And they'd also probably be the ones least likely to have any idea what those fees are.

[pizza1]

oh boy..I hope they lower them.