Say a merchant owns a retail store -- a brick-and-mortar store, on a city street.

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For Target, this presented an opportunity for the mass merchant to raise its average unit retail (AUR) prices on apparel and draw in a higher end consumer.

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The National Retail Federation points out that under terms of the settlement, a merchant who adds a surcharge to purchases on a Visa or MasterCard would have to do the same with American Express cards.

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It was a bold move for a technology company look outside its industry and hire a bonafide merchant, but it was exactly what Apple needed to build a retail presence.

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PayPal expects to continue its strong global growth momentum and leadership through online merchant expansion and share of checkout, by driving payments innovation at point-of-sale retail for large, medium and small businesses, and by engaging consumers online and offline with payments products and experiences that offer choice, flexibility, simplicity and security.

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