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Point of Purchase Bank Card Surcharges: Will They Help or Hurt Consumers?

By Nathalie Martin

Did you know that merchants are considering tacking on a point-of sale fee for purchases made with a debit or credit card?  In other words, at 2%, a $100 purchase would cost $100 in cash, but $102 when charged. I have seen this sort of thing in Europe, so will it happen here?  If so, who will it hurt and help?  The argument for imposing such a fee is that cash customers are now bearing part of the cost of processing all those bank card payments. In other words, the cost of goods is going up because without bank card purchase costs to absorb, merchants could charge all of us less for their products. As a credit card doubter and a vehement proponent of a cash economy, I was on board with this thinking. Why should I support all those card carrying members of the debt society?

Um?except that, my assumptions were all wrong. Cash users are not carrying the water of card users; rather, it is the other way around. Shockingly, cash is more expensive to process than card payments. Not so shockingly, accepting plastic increases a retailer?s market share.  And as we know, people buy more with plastic than with cash.  Given all this, and the fact that 56% of all retail sales are made with plastic, accepting plastic is already a win win for retailers. All this caused author Allen Rosenfeld, writing for the New American Foundation, to conclude that at the end of the day, point-of sale surcharges will transfer wealth from consumers to retailers, and will not, surprise surprise, lower the cost of goods.

Full post as published by Credit Slips on December 01, 2010 (boomark / email).