Okay, so just explain for me... if this awesome option exists, I don't see why transaction fees for merchants exist.. what benefits would they have for using such 3rd party systems.

Not that I am planning on being a merchant, just an inquisitive question.

I watched a Vice documentary on bitcoins recently and it stated that "There is no transaction cost per swipe for merchants, like with major companies such as Visa, Mastercard" then went on to say that "The merchant costs are low".

This lead to total confusion... is there merchant costs or not?

As I understand it on a very basic level banks hold the money, Visa/Mastercard deal with digital transactions. So when we talk about transaction costs that is the merchant paying Visa to be able to accept Visa cards in his store? (Sound pretty correct in lamen terms?).

So what are these transaction/merchant costs we are referring to when talking about merchants using bitcoin. The only transaction fees i'm aware of at current are the optional ones a payee can send in order to give incentive for his transaction to be processed faster. But in what sense would merchants have to pay "MERCHANT FEES"? Who would they pay? How much? Why.. for what service?

If a person walks into the store, pays or doesn't pay a transaction fee when sending money to the merchant... what fees would ever be imposed on the merchant. I am missing this bit of knowledge to understand why the Vice documentary talked about "small merchant fees"

Thanks.