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Banks are businesses, they should make profits. They are making profits. They are making huge profits. Billions of dollars. I'd like it if they made billions of dollars for actually providing services, rather than skimming the till. The debit usage fee isn't justified. It's an extra burden on customers. I hope those customers do walk, even run, to credit unions and small banks. But I don't think it's going to change the "banking culture" at big banks like Bank of America where the "banking culture" is clearly a problem.
It's not like the consumer doesn't have the option to pay cash or use a credit card, or even a check...right?
I realize that scale is sometimes irrelevant to a discussion, but I think it's relevant to this discussion because on one hand we are talking about a singular entertainment event, and on the other hand we are talking about 520 million debit cards, used often daily, which has an impact on the nation and its economy. So the nation, the nation's government, has an interest in banks, but not an interest in Bieber.
However if you add up all the high-profit-margin stuff that the average person spends money on, it would far out weigh the debit card even though the debit card is used by many.
Consider:
software (high profit margin stuff) A $50 dollar program costs pennies to produce (if we measure costs by the same standard we're using with debit card transactions).
art pieces (how much does it 'cost' the artist to manufacture a painting?
lap dances (how much does it cost a stripper to perform a $20 lap dance?
potato chips--c'mon how much does it cost to mfg a 3 oz bag of chips that sells for a dollar?
NBA players--what does it cost an NBA player to develop his skills for his $5 million /yr salary.
So examples of high profit margin items abound. Usually it involves a relatively rare skill set (such as setting up a debit card network). Or a convenience factor ($1 bag of potato chips).
So if all these other things dwarf debit cards in terms of scale, again, why cap debit cards but not all these other items?
However if you add up all the high-profit-margin stuff that the average person spends money on, it would far out weigh the debit card even though the debit card is used by many.
Consider:
software (high profit margin stuff) A $50 dollar program costs pennies to produce (if we measure costs by the same standard we're using with debit card transactions).
art pieces (how much does it 'cost' the artist to manufacture a painting?
lap dances (how much does it cost a stripper to perform a $20 lap dance?
potato chips--c'mon how much does it cost to mfg a 3 oz bag of chips that sells for a dollar?
NBA players--what does it cost an NBA player to develop his skills for his $5 million /yr salary.
So examples of high profit margin items abound. Usually it involves a relatively rare skill set (such as setting up a debit card network). Or a convenience factor ($1 bag of potato chips).
So if all these other things dwarf debit cards in terms of scale, again, why cap debit cards but not all these other items?
None of your examples "dwarf" debit cards in terms of scale, or even come close to meeting the "scale" of debit cards. 520 million debit cards are currently in circulation. That's scale.
It's not like the consumer doesn't have the option to pay cash or use a credit card, or even a check...right?
Banks got you addicted on plastic not because they were thinking about your convenience, but reducing their overhead and other costs. It is the same way with electronic/paperless billing.
But see, bean counters are about maximizing profits. When they run out of ideas, you get "fees" tacked on. Their reason is simple, but they surely want to make you feel better about doing business with them, and blame something else they know you would, easily.
But see, bean counters are about maximizing profits. When they run out of ideas, you get "fees" tacked on. Their reason is simple, but they surely want to make you feel better about doing business with them, and blame something else they know you would, easily.
Yeah, and that is when somebody pops up with a better way to do it, or a different method, or a better product.
Can you imagine trying to explain the squabble about debit card fees to a Rip Van Winkle that fell asleep in 1980 and just woke up? (It would be harder than convincing him that the Detroit Lions have the best record in the NFL!)
Now imagine how the world will look in thirty more years...
Competition is the antidote to too much profit, always has been, always should be...excepting, of course, Sen. Durbin, who sought to take bank profits and put them in the pockets of retailers. It was never about the consumer.
None of your examples "dwarf" debit cards in terms of scale, or even come close to meeting the "scale" of debit cards. 520 million debit cards are currently in circulation. That's scale.
note the phrase 'if you add up.' If you add up all the high profit things you buy in a month (e.g. starbucks) yes it's going to far outweigh that .40 cents or so per debit swipe.
And now that the new law is in place even more so. I won't even use my debit card any more except at ATMs. Why would I when I can just as easily use a credit card and avoid the fee? I always pay my credit cards in full anyway. It looks like my bank is planning to impose a $3.00 fee. I'm sure that millions of people will be mostly shelving their debit cards too. So your 'scale' argument, weak as it was to begin with, is down the drain.
Competition is the antidote to too much profit, always has been, always should be...excepting, of course, Sen. Durbin, who sought to take bank profits and put them in the pockets of retailers. It was never about the consumer.
Competition may be an antidote, but there are plenty of obstacles for competition itself to exist. Corporations grow into giants, and maintain the desire to eliminate any and all competition. They are usually in position to do so, via resources and often by having politicians paid for via legalized bribery that our system calls "free speech".
As for benefits to the consumer, a contract between the retailer and the banks isn't meant to affect that. To quote my previous example, when I go to that little family run restaurant, their request is to pay cash if paying no more than $10 because the bank fee's cost is way too much. To the consumer, it is $10 either way, regardless of the contract between the bank and the retailer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BucsLose
You liberals keep on thinking that the Government knows best........
Just as much as the conservatives wish American Revolution were about letting corporations run this country instead of installing the painful system that is the government.
note the phrase 'if you add up.' If you add up all the high profit things you buy in a month (e.g. starbucks) yes it's going to far outweigh that .40 cents or so per debit swipe.
And now that the new law is in place even more so. I won't even use my debit card any more except at ATMs. Why would I when I can just as easily use a credit card and avoid the fee? I always pay my credit cards in full anyway. It looks like my bank is planning to impose a $3.00 fee. I'm sure that millions of people will be mostly shelving their debit cards too. So your 'scale' argument, weak as it was to begin with, is down the drain.
You don't have to add up anything.
520 million debit cards.
1 basketball player.
520 million versus 1.
The scale isn't in the cents. The scale is in the number of people affected.
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