Micropayments Big Business for Credit Card Firms

By Robin Sidel, The Wall Street Journal

Credit-card companies want to be nickeled-and-dimed by the nation’s consumers.

A decade after they began encouraging spenders to put everyday purchases on plastic, financial institutions now want people to use them for even smaller transactions. Known as “micropayments,” these transactions typically are less than $2 and can ring up sizable industry profits even when they are less than a dollar.

After making a big appearance in online transactions a few years ago with the ability to charge a 99-cent song downloaded from Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes, tiny payments now are showing up more often in the physical world:

In Houston, city officials are preparing to install 1,500 parking meters that accept credit and debit cards, in addition to coins and bills.

Rowe International, owned by holding company Harbour Group and one of the nation’s largest jukebox makers, recently started selling $199 kits to its customers that enable them to outfit their machines to accept plastic.

And Visa USA Inc. is exploring technology that would enable card acceptance at subway turnstiles, among other places.

For this complete story, please visit Micropayments Big Business for Credit Card Firms.