Originally Posted by Dadaluma83

There already is competition in the credit card processing area. Typically AMEX and Discover charge more per transaction as Visa/MC that is why you see a few places that don't take AMEX or Discover. Also AMEX and Discover do allow surcharges but only if all other cards are surcharged as well. So if the merchant wants to charge CC customers extra, just accept only Discover or AMEX.

I know banks have their faults but the merchants are being greedy and selfish with this. They want the increased sales and volume credit cards bring, and they want it for free. Cash and check have their fees as well. There is no such thing as a completely free method of payment for a merchant. They just want to have their cake and eat it too.

One thing for sure the banks and retailers need to compromise on this and not screw the customer over. One argument the retailers have is for small amounts the processing fees eat up their profit margin. If someone charges a 3 dollar coffee or 4 dollar bag of chips on their card the merchant actually loses money.

Ok so allow a surcharge on purchases less than 10 dollars to make up the profit margin, and leave high ticket purchases alone. Or the banks should greatly lower the processing fee for purchases less than 10 dollars, and in return don't give any rewards on it. So instead of 1 mile per dollar spent, we have 1 mile per dollar spent on total purchases greater than 10 dollars or whatever. Instead of a flat fee per transaction plus a percentage, for small purchases just charge a small percentage.

The banks and retailers need to work something out that doesn't greatly harm the customer.