Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to our guests for coming today. I appreciate the opportunity. There are lots of questions on this side, so I'll try to go quickly.
I've never been in a retail business, so understanding what happens with your credit card is a new experience for me. I'm still not sure I understand it completely, because it is complicated.
You're here today about the merchant's cost, not what my card costs me in interest as a consumer. Is that an accurate statement? Okay. So you are charged an interchange fee every time a card is swiped in your store or restaurant. That's one issue. The other issue is the debit one. I'm going to avoid that because I don't have time for it today. Others may ask you about that.
You're telling us today you had a meeting with a credit card company. There are a number of players in the marketplace. There's the consumer. Then there's you. Then you have a deal with a payment processor acquirer, which is the middle person. Then there's the bank that actually issued the card--the issuer. Then there's the company on its own, like MasterCard. So there are really five players in the marketplace.
On the interchange rate set for you, is that an agreement between you and Visa, you and the bank, or you and the acquirer?