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Comment by gambiting | Hacker News Reader

So as a customer, if my bank only issues Visa cards, and I am not willing/can't get a credit card of a different type, what do I do?

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Shop somewhere else, or pay with cash?

OR starve. /s

Walmart is trying to leverage its market power against Visa. You can leverage your market power against Walmart by shopping elsewhere if you so desire.

Walmart believes, probably correctly, that people like you shopping elsewhere will be the lesser effect compared to the difference in transaction fees to Visa.

But lowering the fees is a good thing. It's a cash cow for the credit card issuers, and you pay it in the end - and you also pay the higher retail prices if you yourself don't use a payment method that the retailer has to pay a high(er) fee on because the fees are priced into the items. The only thing bad is that the large retailers like Walmart have a much easier time negotiating significantly lower fees while small retailers have to pay whatever the card processors are asking for - which in my country is as much as 2-4%. Here is an example calculation: https://www.cardfellow.com/average-fees-for-credit-card-proc...

It can be viewed as simply as "when fees goes down, something else goes up," as well. You also have to consider that many people invest indirectly in Visa through mutual funds. There are many other factors.

If your bank only offers Visa cards, it might still be possible to use it as a debit card, since those sorts of transactions have a different sort of fee if I remember correctly. Contact your bank for details.

Or you know, use cash. Don't shop at walmart. That sort of thing.

Since this is in Canada, you use your bank card like normal.

You can easily get a prepaid Amex if your credit is not good. Or pay by check (do they still do that in Canada?).

Or pay by check (do they still do that in Canada?).

Nope. Hardly anywhere will accept cheques anymore.

The grocery store I work at does.

If you're not willing to get another cc, then go shop somewhere else. If you can't get a cc, then use cash.

Can't get too much more simple than that.

> Can't get too much more simple than that.

It sounds like it was more simple than that when you could have just paid with Visa.

Only if we assume you had a visa or were willing to get one.

Use cash.

Switch bank

> and I am not willing

You live with your choice.

> and I can't get

You try to look harder for other options.

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