Currently, the shop often covers the payment fee.. The fee, atleast in the Netherlands can be up to a euro per transaction (depending on your volume ofcourse). As a costumer, you don't see this because the shop takes care of this. Maybe an option like this, where the receiver pays the fee, could be an option?
That's how Visa/MasterCard does it. They charge their percentage to the receiver. Of course, that's passed along to the customer in higher prices. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about transactions that currently do not cost either party anything. I walk into a store and see a flat screen TV that I want to buy for $3k. I don't carry that kind of money around with me so I use a checking debit card that automatically taps my saving account to buy it. There is no fee whatsoever. Why would you routinely pay more for your utility bills (even a penny) month after month when you don't have to? Makes no sense.
If I want to send money quickly to the Russian mafia half way around the world for some reason. That's where Bitcoin shines.
Using a debit card is pretty much the same as using a credit card, the merchant still has a cost.
All forms of payment have a cost, even cash, however in today's society generally the costs are not visible to the consumer as they are already priced into the goods or services.
You got that right. A debit card is very costly. Let me give a long but easy to do example.
I have great credit so I never use a debit card. I always use credit cards. Why? I get paid to use them.
I charge 2 k to 4 k a month on my credit cards. The cashback bonus is 1 to 5% depending on what I am buying. So a debit card user loses 20 dollars a month at best. That would be 1% of 2k = 20 bucks. And if the purchases qualify they may lose 200 usd as 5% of 4k is about 200usd.
I find my credit cards earn me around 60 bucks a month in bonus money. So if I use a 'free' debit card I spend about 720 a year in lost earnings.
I won't go much deeper but that 720 I earn allows me to buy gift cards direct from Discover card and they sell some good cards at a 20% discount. I can buy 36 $25 dollar gift cards with that 720 . Some cards are staples and bed bath and beyond. So A 'free' debit card now loses me 900 usd a year.
I am also not taking into account that I need to keep a minimum balance with the bank.
I read all the responses here and I find many people don't understand the BTC system and why fees are needed.
Very simple reason no fees make for an endless spamming of the BTC blockchain very cheap and easy to do.
So I pay 0.0001 or 0.0002 as a giveback to the community> I also run a node as a giveback to BTC.
What do I spend to do this under 5 bucks a month. The node cost me 3.60 and as for transactions maybe 50 x 0.0001 = 0.005 = 1.30 total of 4.90 per month