Merchants, consumers deserve better treatment on credit card swipe fees

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:

The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., on credit card fees:

When it comes to credit card swipe fees, Americans are getting Third World treatment.

U.S. consumers and businesses pay markedly higher charges than those in other developed nations when it comes to purchasing with plastic, according to a report by the Merchants Payment Coalition. ...

Every time a consumer uses credit, roughly 2 percent to 3 percent of the charge goes to banks or other payment networks, which set the fees at rates that often vary from country to country. American swipe fees are double those in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and four times those in Australia, the merchants contend.

The beauty part for the credit card issuer is that it scores twice - once in a transaction fee it gets from the merchant and again with an interest charge to the customer. In 2008, those charges produced an estimated $48 billion for American banks, an average of $427 per household, the merchant coalition claims.

The swipe fees per transaction are small but have almost tripled in amount over the last decade. ...

Lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., have introduced legislation that would impose more restrictions on such fees.

That's a good start, but it's not enough. The bills are stuck in committee. They deserve a better treatment, as do the merchants and consumers burdened by these too-high charges.

The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C. on the moon blast:

NASA scientists say they had a valid reason for hurling two spacecraft into the moon. We wonder, though, if they just felt like blowing something up.

The experiment allegedly was designed to create a cloud of lunar dust that scientists could analyze for water content. To accomplish this, NASA officials planned to slam a 2.2-ton empty rocket stage into the moon at twice the speed of a bullet, equal to the power of 1.5 tons of TNT.

"Cool," said millions of Americans in unison, envisioning a giant explosion they could watch from their backyards.

The whiz kids at NASA managed to hit the moon with the two empty rockets (they had missed on eight previous attempts) and the resulting dust plumes pleased the scientists. But the audience of civilians were not impressed.

For those expecting a dazzling explosion, the experiment was a dud. The impact caused little more than a fuzzy white flash.

The mission was executed for "a scientific purpose, not to put on a fireworks display for the public," said one NASA official.

Well, hey, the public is paying for this show, and we want a big explosion, maybe some flames and a giant cloud of moon dust spewing from the lunar surface. Try a bigger rocket next time.

If not, we may start to question why we are spending millions of dollars to crash stuff on the surface of a moon astronauts already have visited in person numerous times. Some might even call it loony.