2% as a transaction fee is robbery, especially with today's infrastructure. We should get it 0.5%
It doesn't take a computer scientist to tell you that the cost of transacting a payment does not depend on the amount of the payment. Whether I pay $1 for a candy bar or $10,000 for a first-class ticket to Singapore, the cost of transacting is practically the same thing, especially in today's electronic age. Even 0.5% would be highway robbery for merchants if the amount went above $500.
Transaction fees should be a flat fee, or perhaps a percentage if the cost is under x-amount of dollars (maybe 2% up to $100), then a flat fee for anything above that amount. And this fee should be governed by the FTC. And if that fee was passed on as a surcharge to consumers, even better; at least then everyone would be transparent and honest about what it costs to transact a purchase via credit card.
As long as this fee remains a flat percentage, that means that every time I use a credit card, I'm paying a 2% tax to Mastercard or Visa, because we all know that those merchants pass those costs onto consumers. And to hell with rewards; they're only giving me back a small percentage of what I'm paying them, which only incentivizes me to spend more! It's no different than if I walked into a casino, and the house promised me 2% cash back on everything I spent; the house would just set a new edge where I'd still lose, but I'd lose more, but I'd keep playing longer thinking I was getting more money back.
Fuck our corporate overlords.