[drdec]

This is the discussion I was responding to:

>> Cards don't make money from their fees. They make money from people who fail to pay and then pay the ridiculous interest.

> Interchange fees seem to be a sizable portion of revenue. Discover has listed them as 29% of revenue, BoA at ~$10B annually…

My complaint is that pointing at revenue alone does not rebut the initial statement. That's all. The argument was insufficient, not your side of the argument is wrong.

[bumby]

I understand that, and I was trying to be helpful and foster an discussion instead of snark. I clearly pointed to costs as well, but it didn’t seem to sink in.

Saying “revenue doesn’t equal profits” is superficially true but lacking any real substantive claim. It’s like saying “to lose weight you just need to burn more calories than you consume.” True, but a lazy attempt at a retort.

I tried to foster discussion. If profits = revenue - costs, I asked where those costs are coming from that would erode those profits. Yet again, you replied in a manner that limits discussion. Many of us come to HN because we expect higher levels of discussion than the typical Internet forum cesspool, like the guidelines lay out.