I used to be in charge of all the revenue accounting for Rite Aid. One of my responsibilities was to book credit card interchange fees and estimates.
Many people don't realize that for every purchase they make on their credit card a small interchange fee is charged to the merchant. The smaller the merchant, the higher the fee. The amount can especially ding a small merchant. This ultimately ends up being paid by the buyer because the merchant "passes this on" to the buyer in the form of higher product costs.
Now, the fees are relatively small compared to the purchase, but I am old fashioned. I cut out as many fees as possible, no matter how big they are. If you let businesses, colleges or whatever "fee" you, you are just allowing them the opportunity to open your wallet.
If you are a VISA stock holder, the stock is a money machine. We are rapidly moving to a cashless society. VISA get a cut of anything you buy with a VISA credit card. I believe Buffett owns VISA. I hold Buffett in high esteem. That man knows a "money machine" when he sees one.
Since I am not a VISA stock owner, I would rather have my prices be lower from my merchants especially those small merchants that I want to support. So, I view the Kroger pushback as a good thing.
Good job Kroger! Success is accomplished by incremental steps. After a while, the sum of the right moves start to build up into a great success.
