[runako]

> these networks should not be taxing economies percentage points of total payment volume

I agree, but what value do you place on the insurance aspect of credit-card payments? There are definitely vendors I only buy from because I know I can call Citibank if they screw me.

[toomuchtodo]

"Let merchants charge customers the credit transaction fee as a surcharge [1] [2], and let consumers pay to receive the benefits if they so desire. Everyone else can use debit cards now, and instant payments when they arrive in 2023-2024 [3] [4]. If it's transaction insurance customers demand, let them vote with their dollars (versus mandating everyone pay it as a transaction tax)."

Therefore, if you value the insurance, you still should have access to it, but you should pay for it.

Citations above are in my original comment on the topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24899057

[mchusma]

To add to this, there is a big problem with the current structure of "insurance" as a flat rate for all consumers.

The risk is shared between the business and consumer, as all legitimate businesses still have disputes and I know many consumers who "just disputed a charge" to not pay.

My guess (based on watching data on 2 businesses for 10 years) is that 90% of the risk in the transaction is probably in the consumer (but hard to know for sure).

This makes sense, because right now with a flat rate the "good customers" (who rarely disupte) subsidize the "bad customers" (who dispute a lot).

It would be a bad idea for everyone got the same rate for car insurance, because it would promote bad behavior (since being a bad driver would be subsidized).

Small businesses also get disproportionally hit with this issue. People are less likely to dispute a charge with Amazon (and lose access to its service) than the local store.

So the bulk of the "cost" of insurance here is borne by small businesses and good customers.

[antihero]

How are you going to get people to adopt something that makes them pay a surcharge? Mastercard/Visa are free for the consumer (other than shops that charge for card payment, but they made that illegal in the UK).

[toomuchtodo]

See my citations [1] and [2] in the link in my comment you replied to where credit card surcharges charged by merchants are already permitted in the US. If instant payments are free to the customer, but they pay for the credit card transaction, the behavioral economic nudge is obvious.

[marcosdumay]

On a first approximation, I place a negative value. The largest effect of that insurance is enabling the ridiculous security of credit card transactions.

Ignoring that, not much, because credit card companies are hard to deal with and that insurance doesn't even always materialize.