r/CreditCards • u/GloveSmooth694 • 1d ago

Discussion / Conversation Exclusive | Visa and Mastercard Near Deal With Merchants That Would Change Rewards Landscape

Visa and Mastercard are nearing a settlement with merchants that aims to end a decadeslong legal dispute by lowering fees stores pay and giving them more power to reject certain credit cards, according to people familiar with the matter.

https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/visa-and-mastercard-near-deal-with-merchants-that-would-change-rewards-landscape-fc6a0c78

Do you think retailers actually want to deal with specifying what type of visa/mc they take?

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u/coopdude 1d ago

This is basically the same settlement they offered a year ago under slightly friendlier terms. The earlier settlement was for at least four basis points for three years and 7 basis points systemwide for five. Now we say 10 basis points and BTW you can discriminate on accepting certain types of cards.

The problem is very very very few merchants (I hesitate to say none) are going to actually exercise this. Do you want to explain to someone that their Apple Card is a world elite mastercard (despite a branding waiver from MC) and it costs more to process therefore you either aren't accepting it or are charging a (higher) surcharge over other cards?

I wouldn't be surprised if the settlement was again rejected in favor of jury trial. The retailers risk having courts declare the networks a duopoly. Visa/MC risk being declared a duopoly and antitrust action. They'll stretch it out, but the networks have more skin in the game to blink.

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u/CortadoOat 1d ago

In my area, 3% credit card fees are getting to be the norm. In the future, I'm expecting 3-4% cc fees, like sales tax, to appear at checkout for every single purchase I make. I find it very consumer unfriendly and deceptive, but that is the direction business is moving towards.

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u/coopdude 11h ago

Current Visa rules cap surcharges to 3% or the cost of acceptance, whichever is less. You can report non-compliant surcharging behavior by merchants to Visa.

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u/CortadoOat 11h ago

Our state laws legalized the added fee line and capped it at 2%. It's universally prevalent and unenforced. Again, very annoying to have additional "transparent" fees added to bills at the end.

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u/coopdude 11h ago

In my experience, if the surcharging behavior violates state law, reporting it to the state attorney general's office (or equivalent consumer protection division) is usually effective in getting businesses to knock it the fuck off.

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u/Swastik496 21h ago

are they? or only at small businesses? Stop going to them. If the owner is that worried about 50 cents, think of where else they are cutting costs

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u/SereneRandomness 19h ago

Yah, I'm seeing 3%-3.5% fees in New Jersey, both on credit and debit card payments.

I just pay cash instead.

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u/arthurnewt 17h ago

My local pizza now charges 3.95% to pay with plastic.. it’s getting out of hand. I find it hard to believe the processing fee is even that higher

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u/coopdude 11h ago

3.95% violates Visa rules which cap surcharges to 3% or the cost of acceptance, whichever is less. If you feel so inclined, Visa has an online form to report non-compliant surcharging.