Benjamin Pirus
4 hours ago
As Visa and Mastercard raise fees, merchants may look to cryptoCryptocurrencies have fees, but so do payment cards.
9186 Total views
35 Total shares
Listen to article
0:00
News
Credit card providers charge merchants a cut of the payments they accept, called interchange fees or swipe fees. With two major card providers aiming to elevate rates, could crypto become an alternative？
“Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are planning to raise swipe fees for some types of credit-card purchases in April,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, adding:
“Though invisible to consumers, they [interchange fees] are glaring to merchants, which often end up paying fees of about 2% of their customers credit-card purchases. The fees are set by the card networks, such as Visa and Mastercard. Merchants pay them to the banks that issue the cards.”As credit card fees rise, other options will become more attractive to merchants. That includes crypto. Digital assets also incur transaction fees, but some may be cheaper alternatives than the current credit card scene, especially if card fees continue rising.
Bitcoin (BTC), in particular, has faced a great deal of criticism over transaction fees that seem to prohibit it from ever becoming a reasonable means to pay for everyday purchases. Many, however, completely disregard the costs that merchants incur by accepting payment via debit or credit cards. Solutions such as Bitcoins Lightning Network also exist, improving transaction fees and speeds for Bitcoin.
Economies worldwide abruptly changed paths in March 2020 as COVID-19 concerns and prevention measures took prevalence. Many businesses have reopened in various capacities. Credit cards, however, have gained further dominance over cash use, especially in light of those seeking web-based purchases amid the current situation with COVID-19, as detailed by the Wall Street Journal.
Crypto assets are also paperless, capable of being used online and in person, and they can also come with other added benefits, such as decentralization.
- #Visa
- #Technology
- #Adoption
- #Mastercard
- #Credit Cards
- #Fees
Related News
Bitcoin Price Rally by 2021 Looks Likely From Five Fundamental Factors
High-flying DeFi protocol takes on stablecoins with supply-elastic token
US Education Department promotes putting student records on blockchain
Tokenization of assets is not taking off, but it really should
Going feeless is the only way to enable blockchain adoption
Can‘t beat ’em？ Join em: Mastercard and Visa make a case for Bitcoin
Loading
Editors Choice
- As Visa and Mastercard raise fees, merchants may look to crypto
- All of the Federal Reserve's wire and ACH systems go down
- Canadian bank plans to launch dollar-backed digital currency 'in the coming months'
- CoinShares launches new physically backed Ether ETP
- 3 reasons Bitcoin price is quickly recovering from its 'severe' 23% correction
Advertise with us
Bitcoin BTC/USD
50,698.36 +0.98%
Ethereum ETH/USD
1,644.43 +2.37%
Litecoin LTC/USD
184.35 +0.57%
Ripple XRP/USD
0.48 -3.06%
EOS EOS/USD
3.97 +0.03%
