This whole fee thing makes me nuts.
First, banks charged merchants for every single card swipe (both credit and debit) at the register. Didn’t matter that debit cards were “safer” transactions since no extension of credit risk was involved. Businesses still paid full fare for both, on behalf of their customers.
Now that the Dodd Frank bill has been enacted, putting controls in place that limit skyrocketing swipe fees that hammer merchants, banks have begun looking in new directions for additional fees…consumers, and they’re hoppin’ mad.
(Yes, I appreciate the irony. When a merchant paid the fee on behalf of the customer, many consumers saw it as “the cost of doing business.” Now that banks ask customers to pick up part of their own tab, the bristling has begun.) [click here to continue…]
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