Credit cards and economic justice

      My girlfriend has an eye for economic justice.  She was buyng some some supplies at a green builder's store in Berkeley, and learned this about credit cards.  For VISA and Mastercard, the merchant pays around 0.5% of each transaction to the acquirer, the bank that forwards the transaction to the cardholder's bank and routes the money back to them from the cardholder's bank.  The cardholder's bank also charges a fee to the acquirer which is passed on the merchant.  Fees can be 2% or more.  If the card is a rewards card, the merchant fees are even higher.  BUT!   If you use a debit card and enter the PIN on a keypad, the charge is much less, because the card-issuing bank is out of the loop.
     So, if you're dealing with a local merchant, a small business for example, use your debit card.  Not only will you lower their expenses, less money will be headed to those nasty banks back east.  And consider where you buy things, too, although Big Box and on-line discounts are tempting: buy local and the taxes stay local.