I bought 32 bitcoins throughout 2012. Now worth close to half a mil. I bought about 4 or 5 grams of DMT over the next two years... each 20 mg of DMT - in my mind - is worth at least $1,000,000. Regardless, even when I started putting money in, there was serious paranoia about the volatility that exists today but isn't as bad as it was back then. You could not trust any of the bitcoin banks or markets back then. A lot of them would just close down and take off with your motherfucking bitcoins, a lot of them would get hacked or say they got hacked, so I always just wanted to get the money transferred out of the bank to a market and released to a trustworthy vendor as fast as possible. So, if you're thinking woulda coulda shoulda - you too probably wouldnah. That on top of the fact that bitcoin transactions took dayyyyssss sometimes, it was fucking slow and a lot of it was through cold hard cash not debit/credit cards...

Just on a side note, fairly recently credit card companies started charging for refunds. So, if you want to screw around a company, buy something on credit, then take it back a day or so later. They'll get charged the percentage for selling it to you, then they'll be charged the same amount again for returning it. Credit card companies couldn't give a shit whether you pay off your card or not. You're small potatoes. They get their money off the vendors.

Guys, it's the vendors. They pay for that "free" loan and a lot of the benefits. And the credit card companies lobbied it in by making it illegal for a business to charge a different price for cash than plastic. That's recently (last 5 years or so) been overturned. If you've ever had the distinct pleasure of navigating the byzantine and maddening world of credit card clearance fees, you would know that not all cards take as big a bite out of your transaction with the consumer. And it just so happens that the juicier benefits cards cost the vendor even more. That's a minimum of 1.8%, usually 2.5% and as high as 4%. That means the bank floats you the $ for 30 days average at 2.5% = 30% APR. It's quite a racket. There's a reason you get 3 very expensive mailers with fake cards and whatnot a week.

So basically you're not to blame if you contractually agree to a shitty service and then forget to maintain the conditions? There's a good reason I do my credit business through reputable establishments with reasonable T&C and interest rates rather than Bruce the leg breaker at the local fucking pub... Because Bruce is a cunt and his T&C are ass rape...

I have 55 days interest free on my platinum card and I've not spent a single cent in interest in about 16 years. Mostly cos my wife would kick my ass harder than the bank, but it's a matter of discipline rather than the bank being a pack of pricks. I agreed to the terms, I need to meet them.

There's probably a fair point to be made somewhere in there about usuary rates re: credit cards, but the airline bit is a fucking silly...

Budget airlines offer everything as a pay for after the ticket price service because people want cheap fairs. In some cases, it's actually cheaper to fly today than it was 30 years ago in the 80's... (http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/international-air-fares-at-30year-low-20160422-gocr1r.html)

Well, funny that, people don't want to pay for a premium product and they get a shitty one that nickel and dimes them to death to try and keep the margins up (aka "staying in business").

You can look at plenty of markets where cheap, shit products are now the standard because people either won't or can't pay for quality ones. It's the entire reason why many industries outsource to foreign wage slaves and why cheap Chinese shit shows up everywhere as well known and reliable brands go out of business.

Yes, the US certainly has a problem with a lack of oversight on various industries which allows them to get away with a lot, but the customer/end user has to take some responsibility as well.

Credit card company revenue comes from a number of sources but interest / fees are a large component.

My point was more, by definition continuous 30-60 days interest free periods (loans) aren't 'free' and there's cross-subsiding going on.

The business model is built on selling a highly overpriced product to consumer A, so you can sell an underpriced one to consumer B.

This is pretty far from the capitalist ideal of companies competing and continuously innovating to offer consumers the best product.

@newtboy

The criticism is more of how it's designed. The only reason we get an interest fee period with credit cards is those paying fees / interest are subsidising those who aren't. Otherwise why would you essentially get free borrowed money?

@newtboy -- I used a credit card (Discover) almost exactly as you described while I was going to college. Get a balance to pay for normal stuff, but pay it ALL off at the end of every month.

But I don't think the credit card companies hate people like us for 2 reasons:

1) For every one of us, there's a buttload who pay the minimum rather than the entire balance.

2) In my case, I think that in 4 years of college I forgot to pay off my balance (simply forgot to send in the check) once or possibly twice. I remembered a bit late and called Discover to see what to do, and they would tell me to pay the balance (or the minimum payment, not that I actually did that) plus a late fee.

I can't remember how much the late fee was. Maybe about $20? Anyway, at the kind of monthly balance I was running (not high), I'd wager that $20 was equivalent to maintaining an actual balance and paying the interest for a month or two or three. Which makes Maher's argument that they are "profiting from people's mistakes" reasonably accurate.


...On the other hand, Discover had "cashback bonus" awards of .5 to 1% or so, from which I stocked up and claimed somewhere in the $50-100 range over the 4 years, definitely enough to keep me in the net positive range in spite of a $20 late fee or two. That tells me that the magnitude of my "mistakes" must have been tiny in comparison to average credit card users.

I don't think Discover is an evil company per se for "preying" on people that don't use the card in the same way that you or I would. Paying a $20 late fee was a fully reasonable thing to charge me with. On the other hand, there's many many examples of predatory type fees that really do take advantage of people for "offenses" that are way less egregious, even things that have previously been considered standard use of the product / service in the past (paying WAY more for an extra inch of legroom, checked bags, food, etc. on airplanes comes to mind). Many of those arguably do cross the line into "evil" territory, I think.

If you don't live beyond your means (I know, easier said than done), you don't have to worry about high interest. I never use my credit cards for anything I can't pay off that month, so I've never paid interest and my cards are no fee cards. I just get free airline miles for paying my bills. VISA must hate me.
For gift cards, only buy them for stores you KNOW the people shop at anyway...not Red Lobster. Sometimes you can get a $25 gift card for $20, that's a great deal all around if they use them.

It's a little sad to me that Bill brings up all these issues, but offers no real solutions.

This would never happen in Western Washington.

We can always tell who has been on a ferry and paid cash, because the ferries are the only ones who ever give $2 bills in change.

(Although with credit card rewards being what they are these days, few people pay cash anymore....)

Waaaaah?

This video gets so many things wrong it is truly cringe-worthy.

The country has been covered by vending machines since the 1960s--long before there were problems with an aging population and birthrates. The primary reason for vending machines being installed everywhere is, surprise, convenience! Who wants to go to the store and stand in line to buy a drink when you can just go downstairs from your apartment and grab one from outside your front door?

Another thing to consider is that Japan late at night basically completely shuts down--even in major cities like Tokyo the trains stop running around 1AM or so and won't start again until 5AM. Nowadays their are 24-hour convenient stores on practically every other urban street corner but back when vending machines first started getting installed nothing was open late besides bars. If you caught the last train home from work and wanted to buy a coke or something on your walk back from the station you were SOL. Vending machines helped solve that problem.

Which brings us to another point--VERY few Japanese people in urban areas commute by car. Mass transit is fast and efficient and a huge number of people just walk/bike everywhere. Since there is so much foot traffic vending machines make total sense, especially in the summer when temperatures are going to rise into the mid-90s (30+ degrees Celsius) with high humidity and people who are walking/biking are going to get thirsty pretty damn quick.

Another thing he gets wrong is that retailers are not the ones primarily profiting off of vending machines: land owners are. Either they purchase and stock the machines themselves (thereby keeping all the profits) or they make a contract with the retail company in which the company stocks and services the machine but compensates the landowner for use of the space.

Oh, almost forgot something not mentioned in the video--the low crime rates. Another reason for the proliferation of vending machines is that whoever puts them out can be reasonably sure they won't be damaged, defaced, or robbed.

Finally, while he is right that credit cards are not as big here as in, say, the U.S., e-money is huge. And all of the newer vending machines produced in the last few years will take either cash or e-money, such as Suica or Pasmo cards.

By the way, all of this information that I've posted here is available from a simple Google search and there have actually been several articles written on vending machines in Japan over the last couple of years. It's like this guy just came over here and tried to guess why there were so many vending machines around....

I don't have any beefs with my credit card - I just don't like how having a decent credit rating is basically forced on society to get - a job (in some cases like my job working at a software company), to rent a home to sleep in (instead of your friends couch or the street). They got your balls on this - real "free" Amerikkka, real free....

The credit card companies get 2-4% of every single purchase made with every single card. They really couldn't give a shit if some pay on time, and others keep a balance. The consumer end of the equation is peanuts. That's why, if you ask, they'll lock your card for a few months and not charge interest while you pay it down.

Recently, they've changed it so they charge 2-4% for refunds as well. So if you buy something for $100, Visa holds onto $3. If you come back and get your money back, Visa holds onto ANOTHER $3. So your favourite store just got reamed for $6, with no actual purchase being final.

Huh, I only charge things that I have the cash to pay for by the next billing cycle. Easy, and the cash back actually works for me. I don't understand using a credit card at 25% interest as a long-term financing prospect, especially when you can get a loan at 4%.

The bit about needing credit card debt to build your credit score is not entirely true. There are a lot of other factors that go into a credit score.

I recently looked up mine and was amazed it's pretty high, even though I never use my credit card and very rarely use my line of credit. It seems just having the same account for a long time and always paying bills on time is enough. And with a debit card you get the convenience of a rectangle made of dead dinosaurs without borrowing money constantly.

Hi, I'm the hamburger flipper bot's security guard. Please slide your credit card, food will be dispensed at the end of the line. There are no refunds, I'm just a security guard. Please, sir, do not strike the machines or I will be forced to call my supervisor who will call the police and they WILL send taze drones.