BusinessReport.com

Posted on March 26 at 9 a.m.

Merchants do not have to accept credit/debit cards. That is one of the reasons that many merchants do not accept American Express (AmEx). AmEx charges almost double what Visa and MasterCard charge. Eventually if enough merchants stop accepting these cards prices will have to drop to increase their use. Also, merchants could pass it on to consumers that use their cards and put that charge on the receipt. Although this would not be popular among consumers and they would flock to merchants that don't include the charge. Maybe merchants could pass it on to all consumers in a general price increase. Finally, the government would not do a good job regulating these fees; if someone on the panel that makes a decision about the fees is influenced by the credit card lobbist, then it could end up being higher than it is now.

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