Comment This cartel must be destroyed (Score 2) 245
Much as I enjoy this activity, we need to go beyond simple defense. We should be attacking Mastercard and Visa via both legislative activity and the courts.
This cartel is a duopoly that is exerting monopoly power over issues which are none of their goddamned business. Payment processing is an infrastructure-level requirement for every single legitimate business in existence. As such, the MasterVisa cartel represents a threat to every legitimate business on the planet.
Their exclusive domination of payment processing should be destroyed via legislation which establishes payment processing as a public service available to all. Credit cards are a massively profitable business model which should not be in the hands of monopolists.
It's time for establishment of a credit card system which operates completely independently of the MasterVisa cartel and returns profits to the public. Given the profitability of the business model, this is a potential source of untold tax dollars being left on the table.
AmeriCard - Because fuck those guys.