As a massive human tragedy unfolds in Haiti, relief organizations are soliciting credit-card donations through their hotlines and websites. About 97 percent of these donations will actually make it to the designated organizations -- but the other 3 percent will be skimmed off by banks and credit card companies to cover their "transaction costs."Huffington Post updated to say American Express will rebate the money back to the charities.
Thanks to this hidden fee, American banks and credit card companies are making huge profits -- somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 million a year -- off of people's charitable donations, according to a Huffington Post analysis.
But Jesus Christ, what are they thinking? What has happened to their humanity? Is it all greed, or a massive amount of stupidity?
5 comments:
Some things never change.....
check out this snip...
• "Aristotle states plainly that in the first nations the rich swore themselves to eternal hatred of the common people. This self-evident truth explains the pride, avarice and cruelty of the rich... They compelled the poor to serve them in war... drowned them in an ocean of usury... and beat them with rods if they could not pay their debts." (Giambattista Vico, 1744)
it costs money to run a business, and the credit card companies *should* be paid for providing the service. But when something like the Haiti earthquake happens, and they are making money hand over fist over a tragedy, it's time to give some back.
Dear god, Dusty. Things really don't change, do they?
*HA! Signing in through comments, my captcha is lorank!
Ali, Maddow last night announced that more banks were allowing the charges to be dropped for a interval.
I hear you on the need for charges, it's just that the banks are nickle and diming us to death, so making money off of this horror is truly ugly.
agreed.
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