storewanderer

I don't know where that contingent of Americans who can even assess the QR code payment situation is (or even knows what a QR code is).

I have not received a promotion for Chase Pay since the 5% bonus category on Freedom last year. Given that I am using Chase Cards via Android Pay (and Chase is paying that processing sliver as a result), you would think I am a target customer for Chase Pay. They did not repeat the 5% back Freedom Chase Pay promotion during the last part of last year and this year there has been zero promotion for Chase pay. Instead we have Chase promoting Contactless cards.

I am not sure where Chase is going with Chase Pay. Do they want it to be something used at physical merchant locations or something used on websites? I get mixed signals but feel it is more a focus for web use at this point than in physical merchant locations. Instead now the focus for Chase at physical merchant locations is Contactless.

Kroger Pay will fail and go down in thick flames. I expect the Wal Mart Pay charade to go on a bit longer. To the credit of both of these merchants, neither has had a data breach the way certain others have. So in that regard I would be much more comfortable with their pay app storing my card information, than the apps for a number of other merchants or restaurants who have been the subject of a breach (or breaches).

Sorry, I just like Contactless cards. I am okay with phone pay but my preference is really the physical Contactless card. I am frustrated with certain arrogant merchants who have the full ability to support Contactless and even deployed and tested EMV Contactless successfully in a limited number of stores for a limited time period, but claimed lack of use so they took it away. Yet one certain arrogant merchant who falls into that category then spends two years developing a proprietary app that then will take many months to roll out across its store base, and thinks people will go to all the mess and hassle to use it to pay when it was already concluded before "lack of use" was why NFC was taken away? I don't get it. I really don't get it. Plus it isn't just about paying with your phone, it is about being able to use a Contactless card as a tap too, which is the way to have the fastest possible "FAST CHECKOUT." It shows arrogance, lack of valuing the customer's time, and lack of wanting to promote efficient and secure electronic payments.

Majuki

If this was CVS, I did my part by paying with my contactless Chase Freedom Unlimited today. The pharmacist was a bit surprised. "You can tap with your card?" I replied, "Yes, it's a contactless enabled card."

tmiw

I find that a fair number of people on reddit at least have a little bit of a clue about what other countries are doing. It's where I hear a lot of complaints about chip and signature, for instance.

Anyway, the main reason why QR is "more convenient" seems to be because it doesn't require special hardware or phone support, which ignores the fact that China picked it up due to traditionally low card acceptance/terminal penetration in the first place. (Locking out Visa/MC from the market also didn't hurt.)

Actually, they did. I used its integration with Walmart Pay/walmart.com a few times during this past December to get 5x UR for holiday purchases. Plus, I was getting a minimum of 30c/gallon through Fuel Rewards (at one point getting over 50c/gal back thanks to stacking with T-Mobile Tuesdays ) in addition to the 5x by using Chase Pay.

More recently, it looks like Chase was doing some sort of online order promo for Valentine's Day: https://slickdeals.net/f/12814585-va...archBarV2Algo1

I think it's a focus, but probably not the only one. Chase is big enough where they can afford to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.

Apparently Kroger hasn't been doing that well as a company recently. Perhaps that app is part of an effort to keep people going to their stores? (On top of any theoretical savings on interchange from a future transition to ACH or some other non-card method.)


I see Walmart doing it for a while to come. After all, they managed to get people to think that it's "more" successful than Apple Pay. Contactless enablement likely won't come unless Visa/MC make it mandatory in the US. (Why the latter didn't have foresight to do that, we probably will never know for sure.)

I thought Kroger only tested MSD contactless before? Or did we never actually find out for sure?

Anyway, enough non-restaurant merchants support it now that the holdouts particularly stand out in my mind. The common characteristic seems to be that they're not fans of accepting cards in general; Walmart, Kroger and Home Depot (for instance) are likely going to opt out of the interchange fee class action settlement since it doesn't get rid of the "honor all cards" rule. Walmart in fact briefly killed Visa acceptance in Canada until they managed to wring more concessions, not to mention Kroger's experimentation with doing the same.

I think that the networks should offer some sort of concession on interchange for contactless transactions. It doesn't have to be massive (as in, down to 0.2% like in Europe)--maybe a few tens of basis points decrease compared to a regular swiped/chip transaction. If that's done, some of the holdouts might very well enable it and encourage its use to cut their own costs.

(Restaurants are a whole separate issue. I'm not even sure how to deal with that without, say, making pay at the table mandatory by law. Which might not go over well considering how some that tried it went back to taking cards away.)

NYCFlyer10001

The rumor mill suggests that Kroger is going to stop accepting Visa cards other than through Chase Pay/Kroger Pay and that is why they are so aggressive about forcing their own ...... solution instead of using contactless. They're feeling the squeeze and saving 1 basis point on interchange fees, they feel, could make or break them.

They seem to think stopping acceptance of Visa would help them negotiate a better swipe fee once they show how much volume they send there. Remember, they opted out of the swipe fee settlement because they were bitter about having to pay interchange.

mikesyr18

All Visa cards or just Visa credit cards? I couldn't imagine the amount of backlash they'd get for the former. I can't see how some average Joe would react if they want to pay with their local bank's Visa debit and it gets declined.

tmiw

If they want to save money, wouldn't they wait until they have enough people using the app to where they can encourage/force people to use bank transfer or some other lower cost payment method instead?

Additionally, why not just cut Visa acceptance now without bothering with an app? If they really have that much volume, they'd be able to turn it back on quickly, like with Walmart in Canada.

Visa credit. They already tried (or are continuing to try) forcing debit processing/PIN for Visa debit.

mikesyr18

Doesn't matter what size a merchant is.... The merchants will never win against the card networks. Debit and credit cards are too engraved in today's world to have them come to a halt. Even a merchant the size of Apple or Walmart barely puts a dent in Visa's profits if they were to stop taking Visa cards.

By all means, though, merchants can keep embarrassing themselves and causing frustration for their customers. Not sure how many times we'll watch an over-confident merchant try this, only to see them put their tail between their legs and limp away two weeks later.

tmiw

If you're seeing companies/your operations in other countries spend less on card processing due to interchange caps, why wouldn't you try to spend less in your own country on those same costs? The more surprising thing is that this sort of thing didn't start happening sooner considering how long cards have been a thing.

Anyway, I can actually see a scenario where surcharges/minimums in the US become the norm and not mostly the exception as they are now. Will that cause people to use cash more often? Maybe, maybe not. If it does, though, I suspect there'll be changes to try to undo that (whether it's the government capping credit interchange, the "honor all cards" rule going away or some other action).

mikesyr18

The government needs to stay out of it. Anything the government touches, it makes the situation worse (everything pricier for someone), and I think the paying customer will ultimately get shafted. We saw it with Durbin... There was no need for such an amendment.

Fee caps on credit cards will result in:

1) Loss of rewards, or significant reduction in rewards.
2) Reduced travel perks.
3) Higher or added annual fees to have rewards... So for example, if Citi wants to keep the Double Cash, they might add a $150 AF to the card and cap the rewards at $300 a year or something.
4) Loss of no foreign transaction fees on many cards.
5) Possible cut backs on cards with exceptional customer service, resulting in foreign reps instead.
6) Higher interest rates, higher late fees (after the 1st one).

Leave it as is. Right now merchants pay the interchange fees, and can choose to raise prices to make up for the cost of taking cards. Those who choose to pay with cash can subsidize everyone else.

The answer is choice instead of regulation. Merchants choose to accept Visa, but will have to deal with the consequences if they stop or don't want to take Visa anymore - that's how capitalism is supposed to work.

fliesdelta

I believe this problem with Safeway has been reported already, but as another datapoint I'll mention that contactless Amex (both through Apple Pay and tapping the physical card) fails at Safeway almost immediately with "Not Authorized". I used Discover via Apple Pay and it worked pretty quickly.

Majuki

Discover via Google Pay failed earlier in the week.

tmiw

Many of those consequences will likely happen regardless of how the interchange reduction happens. The main difference is going to be degree. At least if the networks end up doing it on their own it might not go down enough to significantly impact rewards or other benefits.

In any case I'm not sure if they will voluntarily do it. As you're probably aware, various governments have had to pass laws capping interchange for there to be any significant decrease.

tmiw

Today was the first time I stayed longer than two hours at my local mall and it turns out that the kiosks support EMV contactless. The machines are from Skidata, which seem to have supported contact EMV at least since last year based on my experience in Las Vegas.



​​​(Both my contactless CSR and Google Pay worked without issues.)

EDIT: first time I stayed longer than two hours since they started charging for parking. First two hours are free.

HotelHacker

I think if Kroger gives up on taking Visa cards it's going to look like desperation on their end, create customer confusion, and ultimately will result in even less sales. I know I wouldn't go there anymore & I've got to think others would do the same. If they're in bad shape, this is a good way to make it worse.

Reminds me of my local Arby's location that recently closed. I went there about 4 months ago and they were charging for "extra" sauce on the sandwiches. Now if a bunch of people are asking for extra sauce that means there putting so little on to begin with. For some reason, the people there thought they could fix whatever their problem was by adding a few cents to some of their sales? I already knew when I saw that they weren't long for this world.

If you're running a business and can't see how this isn't the solution to the problem, business isn't your calling.

RedLight2015