There is literally direct competition with Amex. Sure not everywhere takes amex but the majority do, and you can speak with your dollars (and still hold Visa / MC in case amex fails you). Consumers derive huge benefit from the safety, consistency and reliability of the networks Visa and MasterCard have built out, and yes the consolidation is a certain price to pay for that. These companies invest billions into anti-fraud technology.
But they are at their core public companies that want to maintain their image. They are reactive to public pressure and political headwinds, and will cover their bases by running away from thorny messy situations. This crosses the aisle in every imaginable way - whether its stifling whistleblowers or stifling supposed hate speech. The reaction to public pressure is not going to be avoidable with any conceivable system, privately owned or otherwise.
The best defense is competition, and despite this post's assertions, there is competition in this space.
> Sure not everywhere takes amex but the majority do
Perhaps in the US, but elsewhere around the world Amex is barely ever accepted.
That said this duopoly only really applies to internationally accepted credit cards, lots of countries have alternative payment methods, but these generally don't reach beyond the borders.
The problem with VISA-MasterCard duopoly is that in many markets the intermediaries (banks plus VISA/MC) skim off 2.5% off of the transaction between the mercant and the customer.
Amex takes much more (~4%?), so the problem is even worse there. Of course, they can and do bribe the customer with part of that fee so that it seems attractive, but from the wider perspective it's a huge overhead for no good reason, and if every transaction was like this (i.e. if Visa-MC was replaced by Amex) then that would be a big drain on the economy.
But they are at their core public companies that want to maintain their image. They are reactive to public pressure and political headwinds, and will cover their bases by running away from thorny messy situations. This crosses the aisle in every imaginable way - whether its stifling whistleblowers or stifling supposed hate speech. The reaction to public pressure is not going to be avoidable with any conceivable system, privately owned or otherwise.
The best defense is competition, and despite this post's assertions, there is competition in this space.