Visa and Mastercard are American companies, and they essentially tax everybody by taking a percentage of purchase prices for themselves. Not exactly a small percentage either, 1.2% to 2.65%. Ever wonder why so many merchants say they don’t accept American Express? That’s because they charge quite a bit more to merchantes, 50% more than Visa or Mastercard. Anyway, we’re letting American companies tax us and we love them because we get rewards when we use cards. But it’s just a shell game because we pay more up front because businesses need to charge more to make up for payment processing charges. They get to sit in the middle and rake in the money.
Now the alternative in Canada is Interac. Interac charges a set amount per transcation. How much? 2 to 5.5 cents. Unless you’re going through Apple or Google Pay, and then it’s a percentage again.
Interac is also Canadian.
Want to stick it to Trump? Stop using credit cards (and Google Pay or Apple Pay) and switch to Interac. Want to make Canada better? Stop using credit cards and switch to Interac. Is it going to be inconvenient? Yes. Online shopping will be much harder but I have seen online Interac payments before and we can ask our favourite Canadian merchants to accept Interac online.
Ahh, so as an American my only option is cash. 😔
Cash is better for privacy too. Don’t be paying for that abortion, gun, or donation to environmental cause in this climate with Visa.
Not denying that. Most card purchases my family has is for groceries or clothing anyways.
A book here and there.
Ah yes, groceries. Link up a 100% accurate list of all the specific items you buy with your name. I thought some American stores did this for a while but am not sure.
I don’t have much experience with American cards. I know debit cards are more common down there. Do they have the same merchant fees?
They’re usually also managed by visa and such. I can’t remember the exact numbers, but they have a higher initial fee and a lower percentage for a purchase.