XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books   
   From: robban@clubtelco.com   
      
   On 11/08/13 11:13 AM, The Horny Goat wrote:   
   > On Wed, 07 Aug 2013 22:33:50 -0600, Greg Goss  wrote:   
   >   
   >>   
   >> In the very early days, you could get the ATM card combined with your   
   >> credit card.  Thus you would use the credit card in ATMs and choose   
   >> which of three accounts you're interacting with.   
   >>   
   >> With the rise of using your ATM card as a debit card for purchases,   
   >> this feature was lost.  Unlike at an ATM, the electronic pathway for   
   >> using a credit card is quite different from that a debit card uses.   
   >   
   > You can still get those in Canada but they're devastating for the   
   > merchant since debit transactions cost 12-15 cents each while if a   
   > credit card depending on the type of card it can cost 1.6 to 4.5% of   
   > the purchase. That's a huge chunk of the merchant's profit margin   
   > particularly on the affinity cards and 'high spender' or points cards.   
   >   
   > Now a merchant who doesn't cover all his costs is out of business so   
   > you know where those costs get passed along to.... in grocery stores   
   > they used to work on a 1-2% margin because they were getting 'the   
   > turns' but these days it's 7-8% mostly to cover card costs.   
   >   
      
   I don't know how much shop keepers get ripped off by the banks here, but   
   I know that if they didn't accept transactions from saving accounts as   
   well as from cheque accounts and credit, they would soon be out of   
   business. Customers expect to be able to pay the way they wish and will   
   quickly go elsewhere.   
      
   --   
   Robert Bannister   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)