No Relief From Visa® and MasterCard's® Unbridled Service Station Interchange Fees.
No matter how high gas prices rise, the banks parallel the results with percent-of-sale credit card revenues that keep rising too.
We noted that the recent MasterCard® earnings news reports included mention that although the nation faces record gas prices, the company did not experience a decline in card use, even though other sectors, like restaurants and businesses which are the engine of our economy faltered. The reason: they benefit from windfall profiteering at the gas pumps.
According to a Gannett News Service article, "Swiping [a] Visa at an Ellicott City, Md., Mobil station recently, Charles Oshodi never imagined 8.7 cents of every $3.19 he paid per gallon of gas went toward credit card fees."
This should come as no surprise. As motorists are forced to charge for fill-ups, the pumps' electronic dollar amount flashes by at lightening-fast speed, and inversely to the ever-slower gallons gage.
[commentary: WayTooHigh.com]
