I’m not an economist, but it seems to me that the latest version of pushing Visa (and other credit card) purchases for small items is surely the worst way to undermine local, independent entrepreneurs. This is described, according to Visa’s latest commercials, through the obtuse word smallenfreuden. Here is how they describe it:

So what is so wrong with using your card to buy small items? Well, in principle, nothing is wrong. But – and this is especially the case if you have one of the rewards cards that accumulate points for flights, hotels, and so on – the merchant you buy from has to give the credit card company a cut of the sales.

This is all well and good if you are a large chain with lots of transactions. But imagine that you are a small, independent business owner with more and more people using their cards for purchases. That hurts your bottom line and the local economy. I say: stop the smallenfreuden trend before it starts. Better yet, ditch your rewards card. Even better, pay cash.