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European payments groups join forces to challenge US dominance

63 points · 92 comments · vrganj

  1. carlosjobim · · focus · HN ↗
    And the benefits for users would be?
    1. asimpletune · · focus · HN ↗
      Probably lower prices since there’s competition between payment processors
      1. maratc · · focus · HN ↗
        Usually, a product that costs $100 costs me the same $100 regardless of the payment processors involved (and $100 cash when none are involved), so I can't see where "lower prices for consumers" could come from.
        1. Lex-2008 · · focus · HN ↗
          I've seen few places accepting only cash or cards from a local payment processor. And it looks like local payment processor takes about 0.16% from each transaction.

          So I assume that if they were accepting more expensive cards, they might've increase the price of the $100.16 product for me, to offset their costs.

          And yes, I also heard that payment processors have rules that require merchants to have the same price no matter what payment processor (or cash) customer will choose.

          1. maratc · · focus · HN ↗
            We seem to agree that "lower prices" have no place to come from. If "lower prices" can't happen, what are the benefits to users now?
            1. Lex-2008 · · focus · HN ↗
              well, I mean, lower prices can come if merchants stop supporting Visa/Mastercard and support only cheaper options :)

              Alternatively, merchants can give users more cashback points for using their preferred way of paying. Not sure how this flies with payment processor rules, but I've seen it in the wild.

              1. maratc · · focus · HN ↗
                > if merchants stop supporting Visa/Mastercard

                In this case, people who don't have local cheaper option won't be able to buy from them.

                Cash/local-card-only might be OK for a grocery store in rural area only serving the locals, less so for a coffee shop in tourist centre of a major city.

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