Silly Canadians ditch the penny.

[Sava]

Credit card merchant fees cost the Government of Canada $0.00, not $5B.

Don't argue with me. Your national media outlet reported otherwise.

Also, I said "Canada", not the Canadian government. The fees apply to government credit cards also though (which amounts to $60 million annually).


Your economy could save more money by trading away the Sedin twins to an American team.

[Hauldren Collider]

So pennies are actually an inconvenience and you find you have to find ways to get rid of them?

Sounds like it's pointless having it.

I hate pennies. I would love to get rid of them.

[Addled Platypus]

first they your pennies
then your dimes

when will the madness stop......hehehehe

debit cards for the win, very few charge a fee to use
law just passed ti increase the fees on credit cards in USA

[snoopy369]

Credit card merchant fees cost the Government of Canada $0.00, not $5B.

To be fair, even if you're going to interpret his statement that way (clearly not meant), I guarantee the Government of Canada pays some credit card merchant fees. Perhaps not $5B, but I don't doubt it's high.

Given credit cards are essentially currency nowadays, how about the various governments just issue a competing debit card authorization service or whatever, with no fees? Any fraud is covered by the government and recovered via FBI/Mounties investigations. Any bank can sign on with the service, but everyone is authorized one free debit card issued by the Federal Reserve Bank (in Canada, whatever the equivalent is) and can load it with cash free via direct deposit or ACH or whatever.

[Sava]

first they your pennies
then your dimes

OBAMA!

[PLATO]

I'm still waiting on the Trillion Dollar coin to replace my currency.

[kentonio]

that's the stupidest ****ing idea I've ever heard.

Why is it a stupid idea? Britain did it a decade or two ago and it was brilliant. A note worth only £1 was pointless, unless you were the kind of person who wanted to be able to pull out a wad of cash and hope no-one noticed it was worth less than a round at the bar.

[Sava]

I'm still waiting on the Trillion Dollar coin to replace my currency.

That was such a hilarious idea.

[Asher]

To be fair, even if you're going to interpret his statement that way (clearly not meant)

I interpreted it that way intentionally because it's the only fair comparison. It's possible he was dumber than anticipated.

The government did it to save the government money. Comparing it to consumer costs of credit cards (which is offset by ridiculous rewards programs) shows stupidity or an inane troll.

[snoopy369]

I think the suggestion that the cost of merchant fees, which are quite clearly passed along to the consumer, is a relevant data point when discussing switching from cash to a credit card based economy is neither stupid nor a troll. Sure, you should account for the rewards programs (Perhaps the study did?) but it's clearly a nonzero amount, given the profits by Visa and Mastercard (For example, Visa had a 3 month profit of 1.66 billion dollars in the first article on google for 'Visa Profit', http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...-reserves.html )...

In any event, the government's money is the people's money, so there's nothing wrong with conflating the two.

[Asher]

In any event, the government's money is the people's money, so there's nothing wrong with conflating the two.

There certainly is when the impetus for the move is to reduce the government's deficit, not transform retail purchasing patterns.

[Dinner]

Also dollar bills. They are just stupid. Have dollar coins.

We tried that several times and they never really gained user acceptance.

[Hauldren Collider]

Why is it a stupid idea? Britain did it a decade or two ago and it was brilliant. A note worth only £1 was pointless, unless you were the kind of person who wanted to be able to pull out a wad of cash and hope no-one noticed it was worth less than a round at the bar.

The Treasury has tried and failed to switch to dollar coins something like four times. It's never worked. It's not going to work a fifth time. Coins piss me off anyway. They're heavy. Singles are much more convenient.

[Sava]

Comparing it to consumer costs of credit cards (which is offset by ridiculous rewards programs) shows stupidity or an inane troll.

Sure... why save BILLIONS when you can save MILLIONS!?

Canada

[Sava]

DP...
also, watching Asher run away with his tail between his legs