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.
I have never yet had a problem challenging and reversing a charge made to my credit card. Their fraud detection also seems to be superior. On the other hand, members of my family have had to jump through hoops when challenging fraudulent Interac transactions. They have felt like they are being seen as the more likely perpetrator, and meanwhile the money is no longer in their account while the process drags out. Very stressful.
In general, I prefer using cash because of less information being generated, but I agree that we shouldn’t pretend that CCs don’t also have advantages (if you’re not one to rack up debt). Smaller purchases where carrying cash is reasonable? Absolutely. Larger purchases where you need some insurance? CC.
The other day I made a purchase at a store and noticed I was charged for something I didn’t buy (not that something was charged twice, it was an entirely foreign item that wasn’t even physically there). The transaction had to be voided and then re-done. The cashier and the manager (who was needed to void the tx) both said it was good I had paid by credit instead of debit because it’s a lot harder even for them to return money via debit. I have no idea why, and neither did they.
Some years ago, Air Canada’s system said I didn’t pay for my flight when I tried to check in. But I was already on the manifest and had already been assigned a seat. How could I possibly have an assigned seat if I hadn’t paid? The desk agent was sympathetic but could not overrule the system, so I had to pay again for the seat that was already assigned to me. Air Canada could not refund the original payment because I supposedly had never paid it in the first place. I had to use a chargeback to get my money back. If not for CC chargeback, I would have lost that money entirely.
That airline sounds like the stereotypical corporate BS we’ve all grown used to now. Not asking in an asshole way, but because I want to understand: did you have a receipt?
I had a booking/confirmation number and everything. I even showed the CC statement from my phone, which also had the booking number, too, but the counter agent didn’t have the ability to change it even though he could see my name and seat on the flight. I had no time left, so I paid again and ran to security and then to the gate.
At least the the counter agent gave me a voucher for the trouble. I got myself a beer on the plane with it, because I needed it at that point!