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> You're not paying someone to move bits around, you're paying someone to take the risk that someone could issue a chargeback and demand their money returned.

I don't follow. The merchant pays the credit card fees AND is on the hook for fraud. The card processors even charge you a $15 or more fuck-you fee on top of clawing back the money when a customer does a chargeback on you.

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I would argue that the merchant is pretty much on the hook for fraud, or even borderline chargeback situations, but where the credit processors add some proportional value is in loosening the purse strings generally. They are taking their bite out of the value side, not strictly the cost side. It's harder for a lot of customers to turn over $2,000 in hard cash than it is to swipe and pay $200 a month for a year.

Payment fees are high and plentiful because banks are a state-maintained cartel everywhere.

For example, it's outrageous that they charge us something like $30 - $60 for a wire transfer, but that's what happens when they can charge just about whatever the fuck they want, because there is no competition!

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