If you had the option to tap a Bitcoin card and have the same experience, but save 3% on the transaction, would you?
Bitcoin is very similar to cash in a lot of ways. This is both a pro and a con.
But I'll play the moving-the-goalpost game. For in-person transactions they have some similarities. They both have no chargeback or consumer protections, but we're receiving goods immediately so thats not a very large issue. Cash is instantaneous, unlike Bitcoin. Cash doesn't have exchange risk. Cash doesn't have transaction fees, while Bitcoin does. So cash is actually superior for an in-person transaction.
If I'm going to do an in-person transaction and am not going to use my card, why would I not use cash? If I don't want to carry cash, why would I not use my card? And if its an online transaction, then chargebacks are definitely something I want, even with a trusted merchant. So whats the use case for bitcoin? The OP proposed one use case; I assume that there are people who find that valid. It is not a case that interests me, personally, and that prompted my response.
Depends. Are you using a service that provides it, and are you willing to pay for it?
You're correct that there is no physical protection for the cash, but that is why most people do not carry lots of cash. Most store it in an insured bank account.
It's my understanding that it's explicitly against the merchant agreement with the big CC players to have different prices for different payment methods.
Of course, that's difficult to enforce in practice for every Ma and Pa operation, but if you're operating on any scale, where a significant portion of your revenue comes from CCs, that will be an issue.
Plenty of gas stations have a CC price/gal and a lower Cash price.
It was. Then there was a class action lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard brought on by Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Card_Interchange_Fee_an...
A part of the settlement that allows merchants to charge fees to customers paying via credit card in order to recoup swipe fees took effect on 27 January 2013. Debit cards and transactions in the ten states that prohibit credit-card surcharges will not be affected. Many large retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Target have opted not to impose surcharges.[6] In the event of a return, surcharges are refunded along with the purchase price of the merchandise.[7] The National Association of Convenience Stores, also known as the NACS, complained that this measure "merely make[s] retailers the collection agents for the banks."[8] The National Retail Federation said, "that card company fees are the problem and the surcharge story is a volume that belongs on the fiction aisles. The real threat to retailers and their customers continues to be price-fixed hidden fees that can only be cured by transparency and competition." [9]
However, the way that gas stations got around the rules at first was they were allowed to offer a "cash discount." So CC price was the "real" price and if you paid with cash you got a discount. Same thing in the end though.