The real competition in payment card interchange

More competition brings consumers better products for lower prices - but be careful who the customers are. Aneace Haddad points out that the competition in payment cards schemes is not for merchants, who will accept all major schemes anyway, and not for customers, who know their card will be accepted, but for banks - and banks prefer the highest interchange fee, not lowest.

One more fact about interchange fees that should have been obvious - will merchants pass lower interchange fee to customers if their lobbying succeeds?:

If merchants pass along reductions to consumers, then their margins would be the same - so why all the cost and effort of lobbying the government to cut interchange? It doesn't make sense. Of course they will keep the savings.