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.

  • Banana@sh.itjust.works
    6·
    2 days ago

    For this to work, Interac needs to incentivize using it like credit cards do.

    All types of loans require a credit score of some kind, and credit cards are one of the best ways to build this. Additionally, credit cards usually offer some kind of return.

    Also because of poverty, a lot of people have a dependency on credit or payment plans.

    Interac needs to make a Canadian answer to the credit card.

    • aquafunkalisticbootywhap@lemmy.sdf.org
      2·
      2 days ago

      You can get a line of credit from your local bank, tranfser the available funds into your checking account on demand, then use your Interac card. The amount and rates are variable, so you can start with a small amount with a high rate (like starter credit cards), and as you build a reputation, you can be loaned larger amounts at a better rate. No third party credit card company required.

      • Albbi@lemmy.caOP
        1·
        2 days ago

        This is definitely one of the biggest hurdles with getting rid of credit cards, the lack of easy credit history.

        Going the line of credit route is ok, but there’s no grace period before interest is charged, unlike most credit cards. So it’s something to be aware of.

      • Banana@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        2 days ago

        There’s absolutely a way, for sure, I just mean it’s gonna be difficult to get most people on board until there is an option just as or more convenient than the current one.

          • Banana@sh.itjust.works
            0·
            2 days ago

            On a lot of credit cards you get rewards for using them, like interest income. Basically the more you use it, the more interest you get, and you’ll get a credit in your account annually.

            Some cards have different rewards like 2% back on all grocery spending for example.

            • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.orgEnglish
              0·
              2 days ago

              Oh, we don’t have that. Nor air miles. Nor easy refunds.

              I suppose the “richer” Europeans do though, I heard it referenced in an English movie of the same name.

              Also, we never used checks, pretty much. Probably contributed to the explosion of CC use in the 90s despite the lack of benefits.

              • habitualcynic@lemmy.world
                2·
                6 hours ago

                I think this is due to credit card companies screwing over retailers in the US, and overall driving up all prices. The EU has a lower set % they can take per transaction, so there’s less impact on prices but also less fake incentives to use credit cards that ultimately just drive up all prices.

                Pretty sure it’s this video that I learned it from: PolyMatter about credit cards