Subnostr

Here's an example: one especially pernicious form of junk fee is the "#SwipeFees" that credit-card companies charge merchants. In an increasingly cashless age, these companies - dominated by the #Visa/#Mastercard duopoly - have figured out how to scrape 3-5% out of *every single retail transaction in the entire fucking economy*.

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Cory Doctorow 2y ago

Every merchant you patronize has to charge more - or reduce quality, or both - in order to pay this #Danegeld to two of the largest, most profitable companies in the world. Visa/Mastercard have hiked their fees by *40 percent* since the pandemic's start. Forty. Fucking. *Percent*. Tell me again how #greedflation isn't real?

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Cory Doctorow 2y ago

A bipartisan legislative coalition, led by Senator #DickDurbin (D-IL) and Senator #RogerMarshall (R-KS) have proposed the #CreditCardCompetitionAct (#CCCA), which will force competition into credit-card routing, putting pressure on the Visa/Mastercard duopoly:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1838/text?s=1&r=3

This should be a no-brainer, but plute spin-doctors have plenty of no-brains to fill up with culture war bullshit.

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