In 2010, Congress capped fees for debit card networks so merchants don't get gouged by Visa and Mastercard. But the Fed stuck in a loophole for Discover. And that is leading Capital One to buy it.
The problem is, no one in Congress will fix this unless it benefits their constituents. The Federal Reserve won’t fix it because they are mostly made up of bankers and corrupt. Our only hope is the Antitrust Division will decide to block it.
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) created a regulation that disadvantaged VISA/Mastercard, while benefitting Discover Financial Services headquartered in Riverwoods IL, a Chicago suburb. That is how the game is played.
Matt, what are the odds of the Fed implementing FedNow? My assumption is voters need to elect legislators that will enforce our anti-trust laws and give Americans what systems and controls other countries benefit from.
The problem is, no one in Congress will fix this unless it benefits their constituents. The Federal Reserve won’t fix it because they are mostly made up of bankers and corrupt. Our only hope is the Antitrust Division will decide to block it.
I was opposed to this merger before you even explained it. Too few players in this space as it is.
Let us hope that this deal does not go through. Who should we be writing and what should we be saying?
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) created a regulation that disadvantaged VISA/Mastercard, while benefitting Discover Financial Services headquartered in Riverwoods IL, a Chicago suburb. That is how the game is played.
Discover is also a bank that people have checking and saving accounts in. It's not just credit cards.
Excellent read as always – thank you! Tip on potential weird monopoly: I had the Invisalign treatment a couple years ago and recently received notice that I was included in this class action lawsuit against Invisalign: https://alignerlitigation.com/ | https://angeion-public.s3.amazonaws.com/www.alignerlitigation.com/docs/Long%20Form%20Notice.pdf.
"Plaintiffs allege that Align engaged in anticompetitive conduct, which resulted in Plaintiffs
overpaying for certain Invisalign products. Plaintiffs assert claims against Defendant for violation
of the federal Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, and various state antitrust and consumer
protection statutes." Not sure if there's merit, but figured I'd pass along.
Matt, what are the odds of the Fed implementing FedNow? My assumption is voters need to elect legislators that will enforce our anti-trust laws and give Americans what systems and controls other countries benefit from.