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>>All of that is financed out of the 4% they charge for transaction, paid by the seller - but eventually bu you.
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>a. If credit card companies had to live on what they charged the vendor, the fee would be at least doubled.
>They are in the high rate lending business and make a large share of their profit from the people who carry balances.
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>b. Cash is not free. Retail companies maintain large security forces to ferret out and prosecute employee theft of cash.
>Armed couriers charge for taking cash to banks.
>Banks charge commercial establishments counting fees when cash is deposited. Rolls and straps of cash on hand to make change cost money.
>Banks would rather never see cash. Their employees steal it regularly.
>Sooner or later they have to count it and take it to federal reserve bank at high risk and expense.
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Bill, we are probably the only ones around this site that can remember when stores had "counter checks" that you filled in the name of your bank, and address(city and state- no zip codes then) printed your name and the amount and signed. There were no account numbers or routing numbers and at least in Florida no branches. From Tennessee I could "kite" a check for close to a week or more. I'll also bet that when you were in the Air Force you went through a pay line and got paid in cash the last day of the month.