XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books   
   From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
   In article , Robert Bannister   
    wrote:   
   > On 12/08/13 11:23 AM, Rod Speed wrote:   
   > > "Robert Bannister"  wrote in message   
   > > news:b6qu74F48beU5@mid.individual.net...   
   > >> 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,   
   > >   
   > > Its nothing like as high as that 7-8% 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.   
   > >   
   > > Woolys and BigW don't in fact allow you to select   
   > > the Credit option with a debit card, and that hasn't   
   > > done them any harm business wise.   
   >   
   > I've never seen a debit card, but my MasterCard still comes up with the   
   > "Cheque, Savings or Credit" choice at Woolworths and BigW.   
      
   That's the machine / software rather than your card - it does it for all   
   card types. If you try to use one of the other options the transaction   
   will fail (unless of course you've already set up that card to be able to   
   use a cheque or savings account). I'm pretty sure it happens on all the   
   machines I usewith my credit card, even though that has never been set-up   
   to use any other account type.   
      
   You'd think that in these days of trying to idiot-proof everything, they   
   would take away unusable options. Presumably tap-n-go / wave cards use   
   some sort of default account type if they've been set-up to use different   
   ones.   
      
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