Is Facebook inviting the card brands (Visa, MasterCard etc…) to increase interchange fees?
Interchange is the cost paid by a merchant to accept a Visa or MasterCard branded card as payment. Several factors determine the cost of interchange; however, I don’t believe either Visa or MasterCard has ever quoted a 30 percent discount rate. Today a friend forwarded me an article on the Wall Street Journal talking about Facebook. The last paragraph of the article reads:
“Earlier this year, Facebook began requiring all companies that sell virtual goods on the site to use its Credits payments system, for which Facebook takes a 30% commission. Credits can be used to pay for such things as online games and movie rentals.”
Now to be accurate. The article is not calling this a discount or interchange fee but rather a commission. Nonetheless, I believe the seller of the goods pays 30% to Facebook for the sell of digital goods. If there is acceptance and adoption by the public of the use of Facebook credits, is this an invitation to increase interchange fees?
