Originally Posted by
mikesyr18
Not really sure what you mean here. "Weaker" how? Discover has one of the best banking platforms out there, and their credit cards are decent. Discover is also accepted in more places than AMEX is. Are they as popular as Visa and MasterCard? No, but I'm sure they'll get there eventually as they continue to make improvements.
Sprint is considered on "the weaker side" yet phone service prices have decreased in this country - at least for those who know how to shop for phone service.
Discover is weaker because it has less market share and therefore less leverage. If they tried to exert their power like Visa is doing with Kroger, then Kroger could dump them without any problem, because practically everyone has another card.
Visa and Mastercard effectively act as a duopoly and set the rates. Discover and Amex basically have to accept them, unless they can provide an extra service to justify a higher rate, which Amex may have been able to do in the past but likely cannot anymore.
Originally Posted by
mikesyr18
Probably not anymore because corporate greed is higher than ever - but banks increased fees and took away rewarding checking accounts after Durbin was passed by Congress. Chances are there'd be twice as many free checking accounts and more rewarding debit cards if this amendment wasn't passed and added to Dodd-Frank.
There are still plenty of free checking accounts if anyone wants one. Big banks make it easy to avoid the monthly fee by having direct deposit or a minimum balance, and credit unions often have accounts that are completely free.
Originally Posted by
mikesyr18
Banking in this country is very competitive. We're not talking about Canada where mostly everyone just uses the "big five." We have plenty of online only banks, credit unions, and a large number of "large" banks in the USA. The retail sector is less competitive than the banking industry... Amazon, Target, and Walmart swallow most retail business.
By my quick back-of-the-envelope calculations, Amazon, Target and Walmart account for about 20% of the retail business in the US. In contrast, the three largest banks (Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) account for 32% of the nation's bank deposits.
Originally Posted by
tmiw
Given that surcharges and minimums weren't permitted by merchant agreements until after Durbin was passed, I don't see how anyone can reach that conclusion.