I have a very simple question:
I wonder how banks get money from "payment in X times without fees" that are often proposed on e-commerce websites. Is it the e-commerce that pays interests?
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3I'm unclear exactly what you're asking... I suspect "3-4 time payment" and "without fees payment in X times" have suffered in translation from French as – even with spelling corrections, they don't really make sense in English. Perhaps you can edit the question and post a suitable link... even if it's in French, someone reading might be able to provide a better translation.– TripeHoundMar 20, 2020 at 10:38
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Having said that, the general answer to transaction fees is either the sender, or the recipient (or both) usually ends up paying somehow. If currency exchange is involved, then a "no fee" service essentially means the exchange-rate will have been adjusted so that it's still profitable for the bank/institution providing the service.– TripeHoundMar 20, 2020 at 10:41
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1 Answer
Banks aren't usually involved in this, at least not directly. The website offering the deal might need to loan additional money from a bank to cover for the money being paid later (if the deal is very successful).
But let's examine a simple example. The consumer is being offered a product worth $100, but is allowed to pay it in four installments of $25, to be paid every three months. The website might need to loan that $100 from the bank (some of it for three months, some of it for longer) and let's say that costs them $5. So that means they receive a net value of $95 for the product. This is likely still profitable for them; they just deem that more consumers will go for the $100-in-four-installments deal than for a one-time discounted price of $95.
In this case, a bank will get money from the website, but it might be a different bank than the bank of the consumer.
answered Mar 20, 2020 at 11:04
