Next time you queue up at Starbucks for your daily fix of java, notice how many others in line are having the barrister swipe their debit and credit card to buy a two or three-dollar cup of coffee.
Did you know that the merchant interchange fee to process these electronic payments could cost upwards of 50-cents or more? That means a quarter of the gross revenues are being paid to Visa and MasterCard and its member banks – a 25% surcharge.
How many of those customers have easy access to change or a few bills to cover their coffee? Instead, they are becoming conditioned to charge it to their card. The credit card giants will explain that the convenience of the card leads to added sales, but what about the conditioned regular consumer who just wants their daily fix of coffee and is not intent on buying an espresso machine and other costly add-on merchandise each day?
I wonder if Starbucks has already pointed a finger at the gluttonous credit card associations for participating in what seems to have assisted in their financial woes?
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