[clug] The 1st Internet Tax is here.

[Michael Still]

Alex Satrapa wrote:
> On 13/11/2008, at 21:30 , Seth Turnbull wrote:
> 
>> again my major concern was that the bankers have now deemed a monthly 
>> surcharge (tax) for processing CC transactions. We have all in our own 
>> way fought over the years to keep the Internet some what free and to 
>> me this seems like the 1st accepted tax.
> 
> It's not a tax on the Internet. It's not a tax on e-commerce. It's an 
> extra surcharge on credit card transactions.

I agree. It might be a tax (I leave the argument about the definition of 
a tax to law students), but its not a tax on the Internet. Just don't 
just credit cards if you don't like it.

> Just do what every other retailer is doing as CC use costs skyrocket: 
> add a 1% surcharge of your own to every order paid by credit card.

IIRC the credit card merchant agreements don't allow you to charge extra 
for credit card transactions.

>> I don't see how they will gain from this vs. simply making a pile of 
>> money.
> 
> *chuckles*
> 
> Yes, that's the business banks are in these days.

Its pretty common in the US to believe that there is about to be a 
credit card crisis on the scale of the mortgage crisis. People aren't 
making their payments any more, and the credit card companies are having 
liquidity issues. Expect to see raised fees, lowered credit limits, and 
increased interest rates soon. Given its a global market, you'll get 
those in Australia as well, even if the crisis itself is limited to the US.

(Note that I don't think PCI is a revenue effort per se. PCI has been 
around for _years_ for large corporations, and I assume is only now 
being extended to small businesses.)

Mikal