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10%? LOL, maybe on the worst acquirers for small, high-risk businesses. But most of those are eligible for Square at 2.75%. Large businesses, it's under 2%

Terms between Visa/MC/Amex and the retailer vary from business to business and country to country. Ever wondered why a lot of smaller businesses have a "$5 or $10 minimum for credit card"? That's because in certain agreements, Visa charges a flat 50 cents for any amount below $50, and then 1% or 2% above that. That's effectively 10% on a $5 transaction.

Again it varies, but please spare with me your condescending uppercase "LOL"
 
Terms between Visa/MC/Amex and the retailer vary from business to business and country to country. Ever wondered why a lot of smaller businesses have a "$5 or $10 minimum for credit card"? That's because in certain agreements, Visa charges a flat 50 cents for any amount below $50, and then 1% or 2% above that. That's effectively 10% on a $5 transaction.

Again it varies, but please spare with me your condescending uppercase "LOL"

Did you read what I wrote that perhaps some acquirers are? Those fixed rates are coming from the acquiring bank, not Visa/MC (though they do have fixed rates on debit, they're legally capped at 22 cents). If a merchant does a lot of low-value transactions they should use an acquirer that makes sense for their use, like Square, which charges a flat 2.75% on everything - EVEN DEBIT.
 
Even if they get NFC terminals, that doesn't mean it will work. Target, RtieAid, CVS all disable the nfc circuits.

Of course it MAY not work until they turn them on, but if CAN'T work at all until they get NFC.;)
 
Right....

When I ran my small (1 man and occasionally 1 part-time assistant) on-site computer service business, I went with Square. Honestly, the 2.75% fee was well worth it in my opinion. With on-site service, the alternative to getting paid via major credit card is usually a personal check. With that, you're taking ALL the risk that it might bounce.

I think some of the small businesses who complain about getting soaked on the credit card fees are simply "doing it wrong". There's no good reason, with the options out there, that you should be paying big monthly fees to rent some company's card reader terminal, or pay high fees on transactions under $10.

Did you read what I wrote that perhaps some acquirers are? Those fixed rates are coming from the acquiring bank, not Visa/MC (though they do have fixed rates on debit, they're legally capped at 22 cents). If a merchant does a lot of low-value transactions they should use an acquirer that makes sense for their use, like Square, which charges a flat 2.75% on everything - EVEN DEBIT.
 
Target is in active trials of CurrentC.

I don't see NFC coming.

NFC will most definitely come at some point. These companies may stubbornly hang on to CurrentC for a year or two, but eventually they'll realize it was stillborn and move on.
 
NFC will most definitely come at some point. These companies may stubbornly hang on to CurrentC for a year or two, but eventually they'll realize it was stillborn and move on.

Don't be so positive of that, we'll see... I hope you're right.
 
I am still a bit worried, because both Walmart and Target have good phone apps, and are luring people in with promises of coupons or lower prices if they use them, like Walmart's new price scanner feature. Walmart is now putting a QR code on your receipt, and promises that if you scan the receipt with the app, they will look at other retailer's prices and refund you the difference.

I can see a lot of people falling for this, because you get essentially a free Walmart gift card that keeps increasing in value if you keep shopping there and using the app. I already got a few bucks on mine just for scanning the codes on receipts. This is something people might actually bother with, as long as it's not too ridiculous or convoluted, and naturally extend to paying with the app.

So I think we might be in for a fight here with Walmart and Target, and Apple and the banks need to have a huge educational/advertising push to explain to people how much more secure and easy :apple: Pay is, and how much data you might be giving up using these retailer apps.
 
I find it somewhat humorous that Walmart has this NFC capable vending machine in my local store. I guess they aren't concerned with losing creepy data mining with soft drinks.
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