Debit-Card Fee Cap Has Nasty Side Effect - WSJ.com: "That is because credit-card companies used to give merchants discounts on debit-card fees they pay on small transactions. But the Dodd-Frank Act placed an overall cap on the fees, and the banking industry has responded by eliminating the discounts.
"There will be some unhappy parties, as there always is when the government gets in the way of the free-market system," says Chris McWilton, president of U.S. markets for MasterCard Inc. He said the company decided that it couldn't sustain the discounts under the new rate model because the old rates had essentially subsidized the small-ticket discounts.
Merchants now are trying to offset their higher rates by raising prices, encouraging customers to pay in cash or dropping card payments altogether.
Redbox, a unit of Coinstar Inc. that rents movies through vending machines, says it is raising prices by 20% to $1.20 a movie starting next month due to higher costs, including debit-card fees. The company declined to specify how much of the increase was due to higher fees."
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Thursday, December 08, 2011
Raising prices to raise profits...so why not say it?
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Poor,Chris McWilton. Mastercard just can't handle the discounts on low debit card payments anymore. Big bad government all in the way of their money grab. They would all miss paychecks, the CEO would have to sign his kids up for reduced lunch programs. And Chris McWilton? He's just blathering excuses and lies for big capital and knows good and well it's all about making even MORE money. Because enough is NEVER enough. Sickening.
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