this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2025
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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.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 30 minutes ago

3 times in my life I took out a consolidation loan to corral all those costs and pay them off. Credit cards are both a blessing and a curse. Gov't should provide credit services at a reasonable, non-compounding, interest rate.

Between credit card companies, finance companies and the banks, the interest they extract yearly would put all the space billionaires to shame.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

YES, I ain't even Canadian but been saying this since day, those 2 companies are such a huge factor in how much leverage this 2 party dictatorship has over majority of the world, that and Microsoft, Apple, Google etc. This is why Cash is King, and using American payment processors just feeds their power and leverage over global finance.

You can see how its affected Russia when US payment processors halted operations as part of sanctions. The only viable alternative is using Monero for online transactions and physical cash.

Monero is the only realistic and promising way of paying people online without relying on the two largest payment processors on the planet, fully under the control of the US. The ONLY crypto that's actually treated and used as a currency, rather than a stock like btc, and actually has any real world use and offers privacy.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

See, not using Google Pay is something even I, a non-Canadian, European person can do. doingmypart.jpg!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

It's been convenient to use my phone to tap and pay for things. But like, only slightly more than pulling out my debit card. Just got a new minimalistic wallet with a card ejector too so it's kinda fun to use.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

The Canadian banks are big enough to build a wholly Canadian credit system for global use, especially if they could get everyone in Canada (and maybe elsewhere) to switch right now.

They probably get too many incentives from Visa and Mastercard to find it enticing though, which is why they're always pushing credit cards and offering cashback and airmiles, etc.

I think there is a European alternative being developed. Perhaps we can get in on that.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

The Canadian banks are big enough to build a wholly Canadian credit system for global use

lol Canadian banks don’t even do their own credit analysis, and they rely on interac… they can’t even rollout the basics

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Nationalize them! Bring this back under societal control and eliminate that tax.

Then SpaceX, Twitter, and Amazon.

Of course this assumes we defeat the fascists and fix the Supreme Court first.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I think this is spoken from the point of view of an American? Canada can't nationalize American companies...

Canada could however fund its own federal credit system to compete and add a big fat tariff on MC and Visa tx's if they wanted to force people to adopt it rapidly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

I have a terrible habit of forgetting which community I'm in.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

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?

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