Some consumers would rather have lower prices and happier merchants than rewards points.
I'd much rather pay for my coffee in digital cash than pay an extra 2%+ to facilitate the transaction. If the product is poor, I just won't buy it again. Same goes for lunch, etc.
Cards that return ~1% back highlight a problem; the transaction fees are too high. $0.10/bitcoin transaction [1] is also steep for minor transactions. If it were more like $0.01, tiny transactions might take off...
Chargeback/escrow services/guarantees are appropriate when the money involved isn't small in relevant units.
What lower prices? I pay off my credit card every month, and therefore pay nothing ever. Reward points are icing on the cake, all of these are pulled out from Merchant transaction fees.
Have you ever looked at what you're paying for in a credit card? Basically nothing. The merchant pays for everything. (occasionally, the merchant passes back the savings to you... like the occasional gas station that doesn't take credit cards, or a store that only accepts credit cards on purchases over $5)
Consumers pay damn near nothing on credit cards. That is why they use them.
Comments
Some consumers would rather have lower prices and happier merchants than rewards points.
I'd much rather pay for my coffee in digital cash than pay an extra 2%+ to facilitate the transaction. If the product is poor, I just won't buy it again. Same goes for lunch, etc.
Cards that return ~1% back highlight a problem; the transaction fees are too high. $0.10/bitcoin transaction [1] is also steep for minor transactions. If it were more like $0.01, tiny transactions might take off...
Chargeback/escrow services/guarantees are appropriate when the money involved isn't small in relevant units.
[1] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Transaction_fees
What lower prices? I pay off my credit card every month, and therefore pay nothing ever. Reward points are icing on the cake, all of these are pulled out from Merchant transaction fees.
Have you ever looked at what you're paying for in a credit card? Basically nothing. The merchant pays for everything. (occasionally, the merchant passes back the savings to you... like the occasional gas station that doesn't take credit cards, or a store that only accepts credit cards on purchases over $5)
Consumers pay damn near nothing on credit cards. That is why they use them.
Of course, the merchant fees are included in the prices.
FYI, default minimum transaction fee is 0.0001 BTC in current version, or about $0.01.
Whoops! My arithmetic error. I'd computed it, but transcribed 0.0001 to 0.001 BTC in my head last night.
Mea Culpa.