[azinman2]

I don’t know why our society hasn’t fully realized that everything is 3% more expensive specifically because of these fees. Europe at least has far lower upper limits on these fees. I hope someone is able to replace the banks here one day.

[khuey]

Because we like our 2% credit card rewards.

[frockington]

After and afternoons worth of research I've manged to get ~4% back on every purchase. As long as you have a decent credit sore you can really optimize your "cashback" and beat the fees. If you're one of the churner people I'm sure you could do much better

[azinman2]

What card gives you 4%? And how long will that last? Just wait until interest rates start to climb...

I opened years ago a Schwab checking account with 4% interest. Now it’s something like 0.04%.

Regardless, the merchant never got their 3-4% back! Which means everyone has to pay 3% more for their items, cash or credit card.

[volgo]

How do you get 4% cash back without using any of those airline points? I mean straight up cash back

[frockington]

Chase Freedom and Discover IT have 5% rotating, I also normally redeem my point for travel and get 1.5x multiplier for that

[kerbalspacepro]

"I don't know why our society hasn't realized that everything is X% more expensive specifically because of these [things that are required to pay for the service you're getting]"

[azinman2]

There is no law that says money must be exchanged over credit cards that drain 3% from the merchant. Aside from checks, cash, and money orders, the Alipay example from the article shows that alternatives can and do exist. Europe also has credit cards, yet the government caps the fees far lower. It doesn’t have to be this way.

[amorphid]

Personally I avoid, and eventually forget, places that don't take credit cards. Also, dealing with huge piles of cash is a huge pain. As a business owner, I'd go cashless if I could just to avoid the overhead of dealing with trips to the bank, getting coins, etc.