why do merchants pay higher fees for online transactions 
according to credit card companies online transactions involve more financial risk than in person transactions where both the customer and their physical card are on hand the higher merchant discount rates for online transactions are said to reflect that in credit industry jargon these are often referred to as card present vs card not present transactions 7the bottom linetoday s electronic payment networks offer customers the option to make purchases using a variety of credit and debit cards this is a convenience for consumers and an advantage for merchants who want to sell more goods merchants pay a fee for the services that make this possible consumers may also pay if the merchant builds that fee into the prices it charges 