Great interesting background article. All things tend to indicate that payments will move to zero cost
Costco Wholesale Corp., the retailer that replaced American Express Co. as its credit-card issuer in Canada, is considering a similar move with its larger U.S. portfolio. Costco Wholesale Corp. has attained a goal that retailers have sought for years: near-zero expenses for credit-card payments. In a deal with Visa Inc. and Citigroup Inc., Costco’s acceptance costs will be about zero, according to people familiar with the arrangement. That compares with the roughly 0.6 percent of each transaction the retailer pays its current partner, American Express Co.