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Wal-Mart opposes $6 billion Visa-MasterCard fee settlement

lpast

lpast

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WOW!!!!! 6billion and walmart says its not enough...I admit im happy as hell the big banks have been getting busted quite regulary...maybe, just maybe they will get sick of paying fines and start being HONEST...what a change that would be huh


Wal-Mart Stores is urging retailers to reject a proposed $6 billion settlement that Visa, MasterCard and major banks have agreed to pay retailers for alleged fee fixing.
The settlement, reached earlier this month, had been considered a victory for retailers. It settled a lawsuit alleging that card issuers conspired to fix merchants' fees for accepting credit cards.
Retailers have long complained about the billions of dollars in "swipe" or "interchange" fees they have had to pay, which average about 2% of the price of a purchase.


Wal-Mart opposes $6 billion Visa-MasterCard fee settlement
 
I see Walmarts point. Sure, this sounds like a great thing but Walmart sees potential for further abuse because of lack of clarification on fees.

I've dealt with credit cards for many years although that was is the 70s thru the mid-90s. The credit card companies can be very arbitrary and they are all powerful in a world of plastic.

I'm not choosing a side. Theres not enough detail.
 
I hate Walmart. Sam Walton builds a dream based on a Norman Rockwell vision of small town American and it turns out he has really built the Frankenstien monster which comes back to destroy the dream.

Screw WM.
 
haymarket said:
I hate Walmart. Sam Walton builds a dream based on a Norman Rockwell vision of small town American and it turns out he has really built the Frankenstien monster which comes back to destroy the dream.

Screw WM.
Click to expand...

Wasnt so much sam as his kids I think....the thread wasnt to hail walmart...it was to show that the big banks have been getting busted left and right and getting spanked
 
OK. Nobody loves Walmart except for really obese people but that has little to do with the discussion. Walmart's concern seems to be regarding the fees and thats a realistic concern.

haymarket said:
I hate Walmart. Sam Walton builds a dream based on a Norman Rockwell vision of small town American and it turns out he has really built the Frankenstien monster which comes back to destroy the dream.

Screw WM.
Click to expand...
 
specklebang said:
OK. Nobody loves Walmart except for really obese people but that has little to do with the discussion. Walmart's concern seems to be regarding the fees and thats a realistic concern.
Click to expand...

I don't know what you're talking about. I love Wal-Mart.
 
I love Wal-mart too. They're convenient. They're also a great business model. I wish they didn't get as many corporate subsidies, but ah well.

But hey, if you want to go to some mom-and-pop store and pay 20% more than what Wal-mart will charge you, that's your prerogative.
 
Gipper said:
I love Wal-mart too. They're convenient. They're also a great business model. I wish they didn't get as many corporate subsidies, but ah well.

But hey, if you want to go to some mom-and-pop store and pay 20% more than what Wal-mart will charge you, that's your prerogative.
Click to expand...

The business model where business under pay employees so that they can make a living wage, screw them over by offering the minimum benefits required, importing as much stuff from sweat shops as possible to keep prices lower than other stores thus forcing anyone who wants to stay in business to lower their wages and benefits for employees. Gotta love a business model that virtually ruins the lower and middle classes at the expense of slightly lower prices. You shoulld really think about why walmarts prices are lower yet they make so much more than anyone else. They make their money at the expense of our economy
 
Republic Now! said:
I don't know what you're talking about. I love Wal-Mart.
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Shock of all shocks!!!!!!! :shock::shock:

A right winger who love Wal mart. I never thought I would live to see the day. :roll:
 
Almost no mom and pop stores remain but I would be OK to pay a little more. On the other hand, Amazon is cheaper than Wal-Mart, I save the 8.1% sales tax and I get free delivery to my door.

Walmart pisses me off by not having proper signage and directories. They want to force you to wander around and buy stuff you didn't know you needed. To me, this is rude and I avoid them. Plus cellulite gives me nightmares in which I'm being chased by a chunk of cheese.

Gipper said:
I love Wal-mart too. They're convenient. They're also a great business model. I wish they didn't get as many corporate subsidies, but ah well.

But hey, if you want to go to some mom-and-pop store and pay 20% more than what Wal-mart will charge you, that's your prerogative.
Click to expand...
 
I hate Wal-Mart and I hate the credit card companies. I am so conflicted.
 
lpast said:
WOW!!!!! 6billion and walmart says its not enough...I admit im happy as hell the big banks have been getting busted quite regulary...maybe, just maybe they will get sick of paying fines and start being HONEST...what a change that would be huh


Wal-Mart Stores is urging retailers to reject a proposed $6 billion settlement that Visa, MasterCard and major banks have agreed to pay retailers for alleged fee fixing.
The settlement, reached earlier this month, had been considered a victory for retailers. It settled a lawsuit alleging that card issuers conspired to fix merchants' fees for accepting credit cards.
Retailers have long complained about the billions of dollars in "swipe" or "interchange" fees they have had to pay, which average about 2% of the price of a purchase.


Wal-Mart opposes $6 billion Visa-MasterCard fee settlement
Click to expand...

I don't know why everyone wouldn't applaud WalMart's resisting the settlement thinking it's not enough. We certainly don't have enough information to put all the facts into perspective. Quite obviously, those 2% fees get passed directly on to the consumer. And, in fact, we are going to have to begin paying fees ourselves for using credit cards.

Combine this with the fact that many credit cards are charging what I consider to be usury rates when interest rates are near zero, and I think one can easily make a case for bank's being greedy, not WalMart.
 
specklebang said:
OK. Nobody loves Walmart except for really obese people but that has little to do with the discussion. Walmart's concern seems to be regarding the fees and thats a realistic concern.
Click to expand...

Nobody really loves walmart except for its stakeholders. I respect walmart for having grocery, electronics, spirits, textiles, etc..., and an assortment of various services (think hair cuts and nails) all under one roof. But love? I doubt the majority of people are not that easy.
 
MaggieD said:
I don't know why everyone wouldn't applaud WalMart's resisting the settlement thinking it's not enough. We certainly don't have enough information to put all the facts into perspective. Quite obviously, those 2% fees get passed directly on to the consumer. And, in fact, we are going to have to begin paying fees ourselves for using credit cards.

Combine this with the fact that many credit cards are charging what I consider to be usury rates when interest rates are near zero, and I think one can easily make a case for bank's being greedy, not WalMart.
Click to expand...

walmart is always greedy. walmart is not rejecting this because they think it is right or because they it will help anyone other than themselves. they just want money. personally i would rather see the credit card companies keep all the money than give those greedy ****s on the walmart board of execs or shareholders a penny.
 
muciti said:
The business model where business under pay employees so that they can make a living wage, screw them over by offering the minimum benefits required, importing as much stuff from sweat shops as possible to keep prices lower than other stores thus forcing anyone who wants to stay in business to lower their wages and benefits for employees. Gotta love a business model that virtually ruins the lower and middle classes at the expense of slightly lower prices. You shoulld really think about why walmarts prices are lower yet they make so much more than anyone else. They make their money at the expense of our economy
Click to expand...

Walmart has cheaper prices because of volume buying.
 
MaggieD said:
I don't know why everyone wouldn't applaud WalMart's resisting the settlement thinking it's not enough. We certainly don't have enough information to put all the facts into perspective. Quite obviously, those 2% fees get passed directly on to the consumer. And, in fact, we are going to have to begin paying fees ourselves for using credit cards.

Combine this with the fact that many credit cards are charging what I consider to be usury rates when interest rates are near zero, and I think one can easily make a case for bank's being greedy, not WalMart.
Click to expand...


umm maggie Im not against walmart on the issue of credit cards...if I had to choose between walmart and big banks as to which screw americansm ore...it would be BIG BANKS by a landslide
 
Target is my store, and Target is siding with WalMart. In all, I support WalMart and Target holding the line for a more favorable settlement.

I learned an interesting thing when I opened my Chase checking account a few years ago. We would earn points on all credit card transactions we made (but NOT debit card transactions). I found out why.

For example, when you use your debit card or credit card at a store or online, there is a hidden fee that is charged by the card-issuing banks to process this transaction. For debit card transactions processed as “credit,” this fee is 2-3% of the total purchase price; for transactions run as “debit,” it is roughly 1% of the total purchase price. For purchases using a standard (non-debit) credit card, the swipe fee can be as much as 3% or higher, depending on the extended rewards associated with your card.

Swipe Fees Definition & Example | InvestingAnswers

They tried to incentivize us to earn better fees for themselves, and it appears to be all upside from our perspective, until you realize that the store you buy from will have no choice but to raise prices to cover the cost of the higher fees.

Of course, if more people paid cash, the banks would get nothing.
 
$6 Billions is a drop in the bucket to Visa-MasterCard.

Problems with WalMart?

First, they highlighted are absolutely, totally corrupt and for-sale President Obama is when he gave WalMart exemption from ObamaCare - with each of the Walton children worth around $20 BILLION EACH.

Second, WalMart sells crap quality. They demand the absolutely lowest supplier costs totally indifferent to quality. So the IDENTICAL product form a company likely is much, much lower quality at WalMart than elsewhere. This is part of "low prices" - cheap junk you have to replace over and over again. I bought some electrical fittings at WalMart because it was afterhours for other businesses. There was so little metal the crimper literally had nothing to grab onto and just threw them away. I suspect nearly anything WalMart sells ends up in the trash quickly.

Cheap crap usually is the most expensive in the long run because you have to constantly replace it. Unfortunately, because of WalMart increasingly cheap crap is all you can buy.

Third, WalMart, like so many mega companies, are going to single manufacture product lines. You buy that company's product or nothing, because WalMart gives no option to customers otherwise. That, when combined with it being made as cheap and crappy as possible and still maybe work - means companies go out of business unless doing business with WalMart with the cheapest crappy version of the product - which then other stores have to sell because that's the only company left.

Home Depoist and many others now are following the single product line model - and of course 95% of that is from China.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Walmart has cheaper prices because of volume buying.
Click to expand...


That really isn't the only reason. They demand cheapness of products including below reasonable quality levels.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Walmart has cheaper prices because of volume buying.
Click to expand...

Partially. But that is not their main reason. Underpaying and supplying poor benefits to their workers allows them to cut prices. Primarily selling products made under harsh conditions in foreign countries allows them to cut their prices. Just to name a couple. There was a time for quite a while when a person could make a decent living in retail. A time when a mom and pop store could thrive. When American goods could be found on store shelves. Walmart (and stores like them) put employees in **** working conditions, minimum required by law and many times out side of that, and used that method and others to drop prices. And because idiot consumers care more about saving 8 cents than they do the American economy or American workers they do their shopping there. This forces other businesses to go under, or employ the same tactics at their establishments. Running the minimum number of employees (reducing jobs) and closing businesses (reducing jobs and consolidating wealth) and bringing the wages of hundreds of thousands of employees from a living wage to far from a living wage (reducing the number of tax payers and increasing the number of people on welfare). Furthermore the majority of products sold at walmart are foriegn made in sweat shops under horrid conditions which considering the volume is a key force behind the encouragement of these types of things to continue to happen around the world and also closing down factories and productions here in the US. (furthering the unemployment and dependancy on the government and reducing tax payers).

unemployment, people paying taxes, employee wages, or the economy in general are not a concern for some and rather what matters is saving a few cents at the expense of our country, the american people and our economy. No sense in consumers helping drive our economy. It is far easier to just blame the government rather than accept or attempt to understand what is driving our economy down. If you think it makes more sesnse to get as many people on welfare and under government control than to encourage a change in consumer spending habits it is your choice but I strongly disagree with that logic.
 
I agree with your points joko104, my favorite TV show is American Pickers, and part of the reason that the guys on the show pick the antique items they do (like old bicycles, motorcycles, industrial lighting, etc.) is that they hearken back to a time when products were made in America by people that took pride in their workmanship, and they made products that were built to last.

The products being cranked out in China, as you say, are generally very low quality, low bid products designed to fill a temporary need and then be trashed. Unfortunately, we created the beast by demanding lower and lower prices. If you want quality, you can't have it at dirt cheap prices, it's a fact.
 
muciti said:
Partially. But that is not their main reason. Underpaying and supplying poor benefits to their workers allows them to cut prices. Primarily selling products made under harsh conditions in foreign countries allows them to cut their prices. Just to name a couple. There was a time for quite a while when a person could make a decent living in retail. A time when a mom and pop store could thrive. When American goods could be found on store shelves. Walmart (and stores like them) put employees in **** working conditions, minimum required by law and many times out side of that, and used that method and others to drop prices. And because idiot consumers care more about saving 8 cents than they do the American economy or American workers they do their shopping there. This forces other businesses to go under, or employ the same tactics at their establishments. Running the minimum number of employees (reducing jobs) and closing businesses (reducing jobs and consolidating wealth) and bringing the wages of hundreds of thousands of employees from a living wage to far from a living wage (reducing the number of tax payers and increasing the number of people on welfare). Furthermore the majority of products sold at walmart are foriegn made in sweat shops under horrid conditions which considering the volume is a key force behind the encouragement of these types of things to continue to happen around the world and also closing down factories and productions here in the US. (furthering the unemployment and dependancy on the government and reducing tax payers).

unemployment, people paying taxes, employee wages, or the economy in general are not a concern for some and rather what matters is saving a few cents at the expense of our country, the american people and our economy. No sense in consumers helping drive our economy. It is far easier to just blame the government rather than accept or attempt to understand what is driving our economy down. If you think it makes more sesnse to get as many people on welfare and under government control than to encourage a change in consumer spending habits it is your choice but I strongly disagree with that logic.
Click to expand...

I agree, and it's the Republican voting WalMart shopper that is the most guilty of supporting businesses and policies that run against their own interests. I've been guilty of it too until I stopped drinking the right wing talk radio kool aid.
 
ChuckBerry said:
I agree with your points joko104, my favorite TV show is American Pickers, and part of the reason that the guys on the show pick the antique items they do (like old bicycles, motorcycles, industrial lighting, etc.) is that they hearken back to a time when products were made in America by people that took pride in their workmanship, and they made products that were built to last.

The products being cranked out in China, as you say, are generally very low quality, low bid products designed to fill a temporary need and then be trashed. Unfortunately, we created the beast by demanding lower and lower prices. If you want quality, you can't have it at dirt cheap prices, it's a fact.
Click to expand...


I remember hearing a speaker one time explaining the the wealth tend actually spend less on most products because the pay more for quality, thus it lasts longer or a lifetime.

An example is the particle board furniture WalMart sells (as do other big "discount" chains). It LOOKS ok. But it is thin veneer that will come apart over non-water resistance particle board that will permanent swell if getting wet, that easily comes loose and held together with plastic fashioners that will become brittle and break - ending up as trash by the road.

For about twice the amount, a person could instead by full wood furniture that is assembled, and with metal fashioners and permanent glue that would last a lifetime.

It is most people's practice to pick whatever is the lowest price on the shelf, regardless of quality. That is why PCs beat out Apple and is ONE of many reasons China factories beat out American factories.

I TRY - when possible - to avoid Chinese and Asian market (except Japan) products and will pay significantly more. This ranges from clothing to tools to equipment. You want absolute top quality? Buy German made. Good quality? American. Crap? China and Indonesia.
Last weekend I removed the Chinese made (most used) brand bilge pumps on our boats with Irish made ones. Unfortunately I had not done so sooner on a larger boat - leading to a call from the Marina that it has sunk dockside due to a heavy rain. That seemed impossible, since I had installed FIVE! bilge pumps. All FIVE Chinese made pumps failed. I had only bought Chinese because that is the only pumps any stored offered and they are just an unlikely to ever need.

Lose to us for that Chinese junk? THOUSANDS of dollars in engine and electronics damage. Lose of our primary offshore boat for the whole season too. The non-Chinese replacement pumps cost about 25% more. And weren't easy to find (had to import-order them).

How many Chinese made electronic toys people buy at Christmas are still working 6 months later? I bet less than half. Yet antique toys still tend to work - non-import toys.
 
muciti said:
Partially. But that is not their main reason. Underpaying and supplying poor benefits to their workers allows them to cut prices. Primarily selling products made under harsh conditions in foreign countries allows them to cut their prices. Just to name a couple. There was a time for quite a while when a person could make a decent living in retail. A time when a mom and pop store could thrive. When American goods could be found on store shelves. Walmart (and stores like them) put employees in **** working conditions, minimum required by law and many times out side of that, and used that method and others to drop prices. And because idiot consumers care more about saving 8 cents than they do the American economy or American workers they do their shopping there. This forces other businesses to go under, or employ the same tactics at their establishments. Running the minimum number of employees (reducing jobs) and closing businesses (reducing jobs and consolidating wealth) and bringing the wages of hundreds of thousands of employees from a living wage to far from a living wage (reducing the number of tax payers and increasing the number of people on welfare). Furthermore the majority of products sold at walmart are foriegn made in sweat shops under horrid conditions which considering the volume is a key force behind the encouragement of these types of things to continue to happen around the world and also closing down factories and productions here in the US. (furthering the unemployment and dependancy on the government and reducing tax payers).

unemployment, people paying taxes, employee wages, or the economy in general are not a concern for some and rather what matters is saving a few cents at the expense of our country, the american people and our economy. No sense in consumers helping drive our economy. It is far easier to just blame the government rather than accept or attempt to understand what is driving our economy down. If you think it makes more sesnse to get as many people on welfare and under government control than to encourage a change in consumer spending habits it is your choice but I strongly disagree with that logic.
Click to expand...

Walmart tends to pay about $10 an hour give or take.
Provides benefits like insurance, 401k, etc.
But then, I think that's pretty generous considering the level of work isn't all that high.

Walmart sells brand name products, many of which would be sold in a locally owned store.
Absent Walmart, do you really think locally owned businesses would provide greater pay and benefits, for low end retail workers?
Hardly the case.

If you were to ever research things, you'd find that the decline of production jobs in the U.S. is mostly because of firms replacing workers with automation and redesigning production lines for greater efficiency, reducing the need for more employees.

But I suppose it's easier for you to believe what you do now.
It requires no research.
 
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