[JMTQp8lwXL]

Did Visa create no value in society with plastic payment cards? If crypto is valueless, payment processors are valueless too. It's unfortunate that Visa gets a 2% tax on the economy, but the convenience of plastic or a public/private keypair unlocks more economic growth compared to a world with only paper cash.

[thinkingkong]

Yes. If you read up on the history of the credit card industry they solved the incredibly huge problem of small businesses extending loans to individuals.

[whateveracct]

Visa has a more compelling and proven value proposition than crypto

[Ekaros]

2% is entirely up to local regulation. EU has capped it to 0.2% or 0.3%. Which I would guess that cash doesn't do too much better.

[mercutio2]

Interchange fees are a small fraction of credit card costs to merchants. The EU only capped interchange fees.

[sigstoat]

> on the economy

a 2% "tax", on retail sales, at best.

b2b, c2c, and large dollar b2c generally don't go through visa.

calling it a "tax" is nauseating. you get something from visa, and you can choose not use them, if you'd like. it's the rare place that won't take at least a few other alternative payments, including cash.

it's a rarer tax yet that you can choose not to pay.

[JMTQp8lwXL]

Semantically, would 'haircut' be a preferable term to describe what's occurring? Visa isn't some government-mandated thing, so I agree that 'tax' is overloaded, but it isn't meant literally. Given the nearly omniscient use of plastic payment methods, that's why "tax" is used: everybody pays taxes.

[wallacoloo]

> it's the rare place that won't take at least a few other alternative payments, including cash.

Yes, and when you pay with an alternative, that’s when you get hit with the 2% credit card tax. Because you and the credit card user both pay the same price, but the merchant has to raise prices by 2% to cover fees caused by the latter. The credit card user is reimbursed for the fees they created via cash-back programs, while the cash user has to just swallow them.