>>Discounts For Cash Payments Are Becoming More Prevalent
(New York, NY) -- The share of all cash purchases that came with a discount climbed 66-percent between 2015 and 2022. Many businesses offer customers cash discounts to lower payment-processing fees, which cost owners roughly one-and-a-half to three-and-a-half percent of each card transaction. More than 80-percent of all purchases were made by card or apps in 2022, according to the San Francisco Fed. Raising all of the prices before implementing discounts circumvents restrictions set by state laws and card networks on fees merchants can charge customers for card payments. But you do have rights as a consumer. Federal law prohibits businesses from charging consumers additional fees to pay with a debit card. For credit cards, if it costs more than the listed price to pay with a card, that is a fee.
>>Coming Up In The Business Week Ahead
(Undated) -- Coming up in the business week ahead, third-quarter earnings seasons ramps up. No major economic reports are due for release on Monday, but that changes Tuesday with retail sales data and the home builder confidence index. The Fed Beige book comes out the following day along with housing starts and building permits. Weekly jobless claims will be reported on Thursday morning, followed by remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at noon, Eastern. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks on Friday as the week wraps up.
>>Rite Aid Files For Bankruptcy
(Philadelphia, PA) -- Rite Aid is filing for bankruptcy. The pharmacy chain filed for Chapter 11 protection Sunday, facing declining sales, billions of dollars in debt and more than a thousand lawsuits linked to the opioid crisis. The company has hired a new CEO to navigate its restructuring and expects stores to stay open for the time being.
>>Canadian Strikes End, U.S. Strikes Continue
(Detroit, MI) -- Canadian auto workers are back on the job after a new contract with General Motors was ratified this weekend. The union representing about 43-hundred Canadian workers OK'd the new terms with a more-than 80-percent vote on Sunday. Workers at three Ontario GM facilities were represented. Meanwhile, U.S. strikes are now a month in, affecting roughly 34-thousand workers at Detroit's Big Three facilities.
