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This is a seemingly insignificant detail, but one that could have a perverse effect on the consumer. This concerns the CB sign (Carte Bancaire) found on most cards in circulation in France, alongside Visa or Mastercard.
A game-changing development
Concretely, and during each transaction, banking network management companies check whether the customer is solvent, then validate or not the transaction. In exchange, the merchant pays a small amount which corresponds in particular to the interchange commission or network fees.
Recently, certain banking establishments have decided, for reasons of economy, to do without the French CB network in favor of Visa or Mastercard. On paper, this changes absolutely nothing for the customer. But traders are openly worried about it.
Last summer Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Système U, sounded the alarm in a thread broadcast on X:
Another change that comes at a bad time in a period of inflation. Quite discreetly, some banks no longer affix the CB logo to their bank cards. Result: the commission to be paid by merchants on these cards is much higher. This will have an impact on prices.
Towards price increases ?
And the manager to warn: “In some cases the commission can be multiplied by almost 10! This will be untenable in the long term. Take the test and look at your own bank card: does it still have the CB logo? It's the entire payment economy that is at stake… ; However, in France we have a GIE Cartes Bancaires which has been working well until now. A subject that is emerging and that we will have to look very, very closely. The smaller the merchant, the less tenable this will be.”
As we will have understood, the consumer may well and truly suffer from this development, just like the small traders concerned who will lose competitiveness compared to the larger ones who can absorb these new costs. The message has in any case gotten through, and it will be interesting to follow the evolution of this issue in the weeks and months to come.
What to remember:
- Some banks offer cards that no longer use the CB logo
- These decisions are made for economic reasons
- This risks generating additional costs for merchants who could ultimately pass these costs on to their customers
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