Credit cards are getting a bad rap these days, since financially stressed consumers are turning to the easy revolving credit to finance smaller and smaller purchases.
Well, if you’re buying gum at a convenience store and poverty forces you to whip out the old AmEx, you can take at least some comfort in the fact that your method of payment sticks it to the faceless suits who own the chain:
And how do I know this?
Basically we mashed up the [bank identification] number database (which is available for cheap from a variety of sources) and the Mastercard and Visa pricing rules (called interchange, which are published on their websites) to write a little app that answers the question “How much does it cost the store when I pay with a credit card”.
In total, the credit card fees charged to businesses cost consumers about $50,000,000,000 / year (by way of higher prices), so it should be of interest to everyone who shops.
Check out your own credit card fees online at TrueCostOfCredit.com. (They just need the first six digits, which are not personally identifiable and are shared by thousands of other card holders, to identify your brand of card.)
(via Consumerist)
Grant Hamilton
