

The Damage of Card Rewards - jamesbritt
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/09money.html?pagewanted=all

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Retric
Ignores employee theft of cash, transportation costs etc. In many cases using
CC cost merchants less than using cash.

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cninja
I don't think they really ignore it.

Quote from article:

 _Merchants who handle less cash, meanwhile, bear fewer costs for counting it,
calling the armored car, and theft by employees or armed bandits._

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Retric
Yes, but _"No way, that is, unless merchants started giving us all discounts
for using cash instead of cards."_ This assumes using cash is cheaper and in
many cases it is not. Merchants don't have to accept credit or debit cards
however, most prefer it for a verity of reasons.

Edit: You can't just take the direct cost while ignoring the opportunity costs
of the other solutions. _As for the cost to consumers of all the card use, the
National Retail Federation figures that the so-called interchange fees that
their members pay to accept Visa and MasterCard alone cost an average of $427
an American household in 2008._ Do you think amazon.com would have lower costs
if you had to mail in cash to pay for your order? Also, without the
protections a CC provide I would never buy anything from an online store that
did not have a seller reputation.

