Europe Lowers Card Interchange Fees – Bitcoin Still Far Cheaper
It is no secret that smaller businesses are struggling to keep with growing overhead costs these days. Especially when it comes to accepting payments, the fees can add up to very large amounts rather quickly. A new initiative in Europe aims to lower these transaction fees by up to 1.500 EUR per year. That is, assuming card processors will give retailers the discounted rate in full, and not shave off a small cut every time. Any business dealing with card payments will know about Interchange Fees, which are added on top of every transaction paid for with a plastic card. This fee is paid to....
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Cryptocurrencies have fees, but so do payment cards. Credit card providers charge merchants a cut of the payments they accepted, called interchange fees or swipe fees. With two major card providers aiming to elevate rates, could crypto become an alternative? “Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are planning to raise swipe fees for some types of credit-card purchases in April,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, adding: “Though invisible to consumers, they [interchange fees] are glaring to merchants, which often end up paying fees of about 2% of their customers’ credit-card purchases.....
Unreasonably high card fees continue to be borne by retailers and ultimately by consumers. Merchants are paying billions of dollars to have issuers process their debit and credit card transactions. The high transaction fees issuers charge retailers is despite the 42 percent cost reduction card issuers have achieved over the past five years. Another issue....
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A securities affiliate of Spanish banking group Banco Santander is predicting bitcoin will have a significant impact on the legacy finance ecosystem should it see wider adoption. The report, published earlier this week, stems from a meeting involving Santander researchers, Santander Investment Securities, Brazilian bitcoin brokerage Mercado Bitcoin and local investors. While short, the publication offers a take on the risks (or opportunities) card issuers, acquirers, exchanges and banks would face in a future should the use of digital currency become more mainstream. Perhaps most at risk,....