The US rate for credit card (and check card) processing is indeed very high! The upside of this is that it makes a variety of financial firms (banks and credit card companies) quite interested in issuing them. For instance, some banks will offer no-fee bank accounts with direct deposit and a certain minimum number of monthly check-card purchases (in lieu of requiring larger minimum balances). Some providers will also explicitly send a significant fraction of these fees right back to the customer as "cash back", airline-miles, or similar rewards.

(The downside is obvious. The dynamics of the interplay are interesting. I wonder if there are any good studies.)