Oddbean new post about | logout
 @Electric Pants :prince_dance:  They make money by the merchant eating transaction fees.  Same as every other option other than isn't cash in hand. 
 This is correct. It's disgusting really because it's like 3-5% clip off the gross total. Data shows that people will buy more if it's 0% and the net revenue and margin makes up for the cost. So you end up with people buying more than they need and the merchant earning more while the bank steals a bigger chunk of real wealth from the economy for no work at all. It's understandable for major purchases like durable goods (furniture for example), but horrible for discretionary consumables.