They don't charge 3%, they charge about a tenth of a percent (0.11%). What you think of as fees is actually a basket of charges going to different parties. almost 2% goes to your (the purchaser) credit card company to cover the risk of you not paying them, about a percent goes to the store's bank to cover the case when they have to give the money back (either because it was a fraudulent online transaction, or the store cheated the customer and the customer went to their card issuer, etc.) and that tiny little bit that's left goes to Visa/MasterCard.
Credit transaction fees actually make lots of sense and are grounded in the actual cost of the financial product. As a merchant, you can choose to accept only debit cards to avoid the cost
Credit transaction fees actually make lots of sense and are grounded in the actual cost of the financial product. As a merchant, you can choose to accept only debit cards to avoid the cost