If there is no rounding down, it could amount to more.

Hypothetically if you incur 10,000 transactions per year with the max rounding up of $0.04 per transaction, you're out $400.

This doesn't make a huge impact to individuals, but it absolutely will to large volume businesses.

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hn_acc1 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

For large volume businesses, $400 / year is what we usually call.. a rounding error.

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echelon 8 hours ago | parent [-]

A large volume business isn't doing 10k transactions.

	▲	missinglugnut 7 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The percentage change is the same for everyone. If a consumer pays 10.05 instead of 10.03, they pay 0.2% more. If a store games prices to charge 0.2% more on a million transactions it's still 0.2% for them. Except the rounding on multi-item purchases isnt predictable so it would probably take a miracle of data engineering and behavioral science to hit 0.1% benefit on average. Meanwhile stores are using 30% off coupons and buy on get one free to get people in the door, whilst hiding double digit price increases. Worrying about the two pennies is stupid on either side of the transaction. Don't listen to the professional complainers.
	▲	dpark 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Your hypothetical 4 cents per transaction is inflated but it’s still only 4 cents per transaction. Credit card fees dwarf that even for very large volume business. No CEO is rubbing their hands together salivating over the idea of 4 cents per transaction. This likely won’t even show up on an earnings report because it’s literally going to be rounded away.

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dpark 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You’re arguing about nonsense scenarios. Hypothetically every business could also tack a “convenience fee” of $20 on every purchase like TicketMaster and make 200k off this imaginary customer.

Also even if a business rounded up every transaction, the expected benefit is 2 cents per transaction vs fair rounding, not 4 cents.

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tempestn 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

But there would be rounding down, so how is this relevant?

	▲	jacobgkau 11 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		What's even to say anything will be rounded down? If Walmart says "we're going to round anything from $0.01 to $0.04 up to $0.05," do you think the free market would put them out of business out of principle, or would they get away with it? I think they'd get away with it.
	▲	echelon 11 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Nobody has to round down. There's no government rule. I would expect many businesses to implement ceil()-flavored rounding.