Have you ever seen gas stations advertise two different prices per gallon? That’s called steering, and it’s a way for merchants to encourage cash payment to avoid inflated ‘swipe fees’ levied by companies like Mastercard and Visa.
A lawsuit from 2005 reached an apparent settlement this morning, which would reduce / level swipe fees in the future. This would also do away with many steering restrictions, allow merchants to steer towards a particular form of payment at the point of sale.
“There’s a dynamic out there where you go to buy something, check out, and you’re frequently seeing these offers where you can save maybe 1% on your purchase,” said Financials analyst Josh Steiner this morning on The Call @ Hedgeye.
Finally, some good news for US consumers.
Click above for Steiner’s in-depth analysis and outlook.
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