Mastercard’s ties to the esports world have led to more evidence of censorship. A source leaked messages from the Riot Games sponsor to livestream channels during the Valorant Champions Tour. The payment processor asked moderators to delete messages accusing it of forcing the ban of Steam games.
Man I just wish there were better alternatives to MasterCard and Visa.
It really boggles the mind why we have to go through private corporations to use our monetary system in the digital realm
If we had to use private corporations then there needs to be enough competition to prevent what is happening now.
FedNow became a thing just two years ago. With transaction fees of just $0.043/transaction, it’s cheaper than every other payment processor out there. Hopefully it can gain adoption and push out Visa/Mastercard.
Interesting. Good to have a less rent-seeking option, not sure I love the idea of the Fed just (assumedly) having access to all my transactions, though.
What prevents them from getting bigger and doing the same thing. This cycle of sadomasochism needs to stop at the root cause.
FedNow is ran by the Federal Reserve. They are almost certainly going to retain stricter regulation than independently operated payment processors.
I’m. So. Reassured.
Enshitification is common. Corps care a ton about social pressures and norms. They get swayed easily by public opinions.
This one is US Gov based so we’ll see how it plays out. They tend to be slower to move… Until someone starts slinging executive orders around to rip things out and tear them down.
You don’t have to. You can use cash, checks, crypto, gift cards, and more. It’s only credit cards (and probably almost all debit cards) that go through them.
I’ve been to places that don’t take check or cash anymore though.
As much as everyone here hates it literally the only way to ever do that is cryptocurrency unless you receive precious metals in the mail.
With how things are going, I’d be happy to support an EU-based alternative.
I read that this is actually coming. I forgot what it was called though. Fingers crossed.
GNU Taler?
Wero.
I have seen it mentioned quite a few times on websites. Can you actually pay normal shops using that?
Maybe a few in Switzerland. I haven’t seen any news about it specifically.
We have our own system, Twint. Wero was based on it, but so far they’re not interchangeable.
I don’t think so to be honest, I have never seen it here :-( Maybe in a couple years
I’m afraid it’s not expanded to many countries just yet :(
AmEx & Discover. I don’t know if steam takes them, though.
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Does anyone take them anymore?
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That’s good to hear, just haven’t noticed their logos for years while visa/mc logos seem to be everywhere.
apparently Steam according to other commenters.
I wish they weren’t a duopoly. There isn’t really any other options even if they would be better, just because of the marketshare hold they have.
Discover? Not that much better but works fine for me. Good cashback too.