Figured somebody here needs to ask this here.

  • SpicyTaint@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Cash if you’re in person. Gift cards if it’s a service that has those (like Steam). A crypto currency, if you feel like that’s a valid option.

    We could band together and pressure them back to doing their jobs? I think the majority of shit won’t get better without active involvement with addressing it.

    Is violence a currency?

  • NaibofTabr@infosec.pub
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    3 days ago

    The problem with answering this question is that on the consumer side you don’t really make this choice. The businesses that you pay for things at make this choice.

    Visa and Mastercard are payment networks. The businesses that accept them are renting access to those payment networks, because ultimately accepting those forms of payment helps them make more money.

    There are other options for payment systems, but for you to use them requires that the business you want to buy something at accepts those options.

    • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      Ya

      Highest profit margin in the whole S&P 500? Visa/MC duopoly, like 70%!

      Long read

      Meanwhile Brazil has a 0% solution. Real card fees shouldn’t be 3%, should be IDK like 0.1% or something

      • noughtnaut@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I’m not aware of how payments work in Brazil, but in Denmark we’ve had a debit card that everyone uses and every store accepts. It’s completely free for consumers, and stores pay way less for Dankort transactions than for credit cards, so it’s a win-win.

      • Redex@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        The fees are insane to me. I do think it’s fine for there to be some fee, they do provide an infrastructure and keep it up to date, but current fees are just insane for what they’re providing.

        • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 days ago

          My point is, hardly anyone goes out of their way to use other payment options, and that’s one reason why most businesses don’t bother with them, so this is also a choice of the consumer. Of course there’s also little incentive for the consumer not to bother, but that’s kind of just the deal with catch 22 network effects, someone has to take the leap to using something else.

    • Che Banana@beehaw.org
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      3 days ago

      lol…like the business has a choice?

      Before COVID it was almost 50/50 cash/credit and now we’re at 25/75 cash/credit because people learned to use their card more than before (Spain).

      Banks make the choice, you use what the bank gives you in business, or you have no business.

      • NaibofTabr@infosec.pub
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        3 days ago

        In a practical sense it’s true that most businesses can’t afford to not accept Visa & MasterCard.

        This is not a choice made by banks. The credit payment networks are not banks and are not owned and operated by banks.

        A business does have the choice to accept other forms of payment besides Visa & MasterCard, which is the point I was making. If you want to use a different method to pay for something, the business has to accept that form of payment.

        • Che Banana@beehaw.org
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          2 days ago

          Correct, they are not owned (mostly) by banks, but the fees go to the bank and cc company for processing, so it’s relatively the same. Also noted that when you open an account you don’t have a choice of what company your debit/cc issued by the bank is. In the US & SA it was exclusively VISA (I’ve had one at one time or another since early 90s…fuck I’m old) and in the EU it’s Mastercard…I haven’t seen any other type issued…id love to see that change.

          I will also add some banks are just CC companies in the US- the junk mail kind that offer zero rates, etc.

  • Hirom@beehaw.org
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    3 days ago

    Cash for small physical payments. It’s the most private payment system. There’s no third party payment provider involved.

  • Shadow@lemmy.ca
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    3 days ago

    If you’re in Canada, Interac is a Canadian grown company. Just use your debit card and skip the credit if you can.

    • GameGod@lemmy.ca
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      3 days ago

      To use Wero, both the sender and recipient must have an account at one of our bank members in Germany, Belgium or France (source)

      No Canadian bank or credit union offers JCB cards.

      Basically the only option is Interac, but it only works inside Canada. If you want to use your Canadian debit card internationally, it’s going to go through an American payment network like Cirrus, Maestro, or the Plus network (ie. MasterCard or Visa’s network).

      • Sunshine@piefed.caM
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        3 days ago

        The payment options can expand, JCB was initially only available in the Japanese market and today there affiliated cards issued in Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

        Many canadian terminals here already accept them. They would be a great alternative.

        Wero is experiencing massive growth in Europe where more and more banks are accepting them.

        Nothing is set in stone.

        • Bubbaonthebeach@lemmy.ca
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          3 days ago

          Isn’t JBC acceptance in many countries through partnership agreements with US American Express or Discovery cards? Doesn’t that make them the same as using Visa or Mastercard?

          • Sunshine@piefed.caM
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            3 days ago

            I checked and it seems like only JCB is only independently used in Japan without the partnerships. I wonder why not the skip the middlemen and do it themselves?

            Amex and Discover do not act as sketchy as Visa and Mastercard so no they’re not the same.

            • HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org
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              3 days ago

              In the US, JCB and UnionPay cards are processed on Discover infrastructure. I suspect it’s a matter of instant broad acceptance, which is more appesling than trying to sign up 5 million new merchants.

  • BaroqueInMind@piefed.social
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    3 days ago

    There are none that allows for practical day-to-day grocery purchases, and/or international travel. Someone please prove me wrong.

      • Redex@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        While they are smaller, they’re worse for businesses as their fees are higher

        • dai@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          In AU at least most places here will pass fees onto the cardholder as a surcharge. Very rare to find a business that eat the surcharge these days.

          Edit: Larger businesses yeah they will eat it, I’m more speaking of smaller businesses.

          • Redex@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            Interesting, in Croatia I’ve seen only a handful of very small businesses do that, not a single chain of stores does that.