From the merchant perspective these middlemen can be infuriating. I use Stripe, and I regularly get chargebacks due to "Unauthorized Use of Card" coming from the issuing bank. Stripe will immediately charge $15, which is not refunded regardless of the outcome of the dispute. Then, for the privilege of countering the dispute, I will be charged another $15 which will only be returned if I win.
At that point it is put onto me to prove that the use of the card was authorized (Which is usually practically impossible given the limited info I have about the person and their transaction).
Then at least half of the time I lose and forfeit the full transaction amount in addition to the fees Stripe charged me, having already shipped out a product.
It all gets folded into the cost of doing business, but it infuriates me that I end up on the hook for "unathorized" use of a customer's card. (Scare quotes because usually I suspect it was authorized and they just forgot or got mad about their order)
So it also makes me mad when I hear people say the middlemen earn their cut but handling fraud and security, since they are just passing that cost onto merchants anyway.
At that point it is put onto me to prove that the use of the card was authorized (Which is usually practically impossible given the limited info I have about the person and their transaction).
Then at least half of the time I lose and forfeit the full transaction amount in addition to the fees Stripe charged me, having already shipped out a product.
It all gets folded into the cost of doing business, but it infuriates me that I end up on the hook for "unathorized" use of a customer's card. (Scare quotes because usually I suspect it was authorized and they just forgot or got mad about their order)
So it also makes me mad when I hear people say the middlemen earn their cut but handling fraud and security, since they are just passing that cost onto merchants anyway.