Credit Card Fees being passed on to customers.

Nathan said:
My wife still insists on paying our monthly bills with checks. The payees hate that, would rather prefer auto pay.
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This service charge has been going on for a long time for electric bills, cable charges, and auto pay accounts. And some are big enough to result in a big cash back, so if you don't give them access to your bank account, they charge you a fee big enough to cancel out the cash back and then some. They keep my bank account numbers on file too. No problem for them if they get hacked. They're my account numbers, not theirs. This one creeps me out, but I do it anyway. They guarantee the safety of my account numbers. Yeah, right!
 
you have to be nuts in these parts to write checks .

thy have been stolen out of the mail like crazy the last two years .

i sooner link a bank account to a reputable company if i have to .

no problem getting protection from any mishaps on linked accounts .

checks stolen , altered and cashed can be a horror
 

I don't necessarily like checks, have written a very few over the years, did cancel all my credit cards over time, only have the 2% cashback card that was mentioned for emergencies and requirements. I pay all the ongoing/repeating monthly bills with that card, no longer obsessed with making a few dollars from rewards. Keeps the 'fluffy stuff FOMO' to a minimum. Easier record keeping was an added plus..
 
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JustDave said:
This service charge has been going on for a long time for electric bills, cable charges, and auto pay accounts. And some are big enough to result in a big cash back, so if you don't give them access to your bank account, they charge you a fee big enough to cancel out the cash back and then some. They keep my bank account numbers on file too. No problem for them if they get hacked. They're my account numbers, not theirs. This one creeps me out, but I do it anyway. They guarantee the safety of my account numbers. Yeah, right!
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I recently added a card and today I had occasion to go through the associated paperwork and then check more details online with the issuing bank. It's a "world elite" card with a large package of benefits.

One I wasn't aware of is the ability, like other cards, to request "virtual cards." These can be requested for a one-time use, or ongoing use with a specific merchant. So that's one possible hedge against merchant hacks.

It's a no-fee card with cash back, 120 day price protection, extended warranties, cellphone insurance, ID theft protection, travel services, airport lounge access, trip and luggage insurance, car rental insurance, a substantial limit, 0% interest (for 2 more months), etc.

But I'm sure there are other cards offering some form virtual card as well.
 
I don't fly. Haven't stayed in a motel/hotel for more than 15 years+, driving is down to a minimum since I quit. Very seldom eat out, more of a homebody since the pandemic lock down. I found myself ordering unneeded 'stuff' to make the bonus threshold on the rewards cards, cancelled Amazon, pay daughter's membership (use her free shipping) do watch Prime occasionally . Pay cash, & ask for a cash discount or when denied, WALK, as a result somewhat better off financially & own less 'stuff'!
 
I'm not a regular E-Bay purchaser, but I think I've seen the "surcharge" once or twice. Firearm purchasing online, you'll definitely see it.

To me it makes sense for a business to pass on that cost to the person who chooses to use a CC. The CC companies don't issue those plastic cards because they're nice. They do it to make money, and they don't care who they get it from.
 
When I had a small-ish liquor/convenience store up in No Cal, I posted a little note on the card reader that said I charged a fee of .30 per transaction. The bank charged me $1 per.

When I upped the fee to .50 per transaction, the bank was charging me $2 per.

Then the bank's fee went up to $3/per transaction, and I charged .75.

My customers got really angry at me and I was angry at the bank. The bank fees got ridiculous. The store was charged $6 if someone used a certain credit card. I forget the name of it....Express-something? You don't see them anymore.

That was in 2011 until 2014, when I sold my half of the store to the co-owner. It's been several years since I've seen any fees posted at a point of sale. Apparently, businesses are absorbing those costs through pricing....if they still exist. Credit card companies make billions in interest charges, so maybe banks don't charge point of sale transaction fees anymore, idk.

Maybe someone here knows.
 
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I was all for paying cash whenever possible. Covid came along and stores could barely make change any more and didn't like to handle cash. ATMs were out of cash a lot. And so on.

I guess habits die hard, because people didn't want to go back to cash. Or maybe they were living off debt. In any case it is still awkward to pay cash in many retailers.

I've been buying in small towns further out lately, giving my trade to smaller merchants instead of big chains where possible. At least they still accept cash and even have change!
 
dilettante said:
I was all for paying cash whenever possible. Covid came along and stores could barely make change any more and didn't like to handle cash. ATMs were out of cash a lot. And so on.

I guess habits die hard, because people didn't want to go back to cash. Or maybe they were living off debt. In any case it is still awkward to pay cash in many retailers.

I've been buying in small towns further out lately, giving my trade to smaller merchants instead of big chains where possible. At least they still accept cash and even have change!
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I think a lot of people quit carrying wads of cash since employers (and other sources of income) started using direct deposit.

There was a bonus in that for me when I lived in a really rough part of town.

And if your card is stolen, you can just make a quick call to have it cancelled. Card companies will remove any charges made after it was stolen, too. They don't even argue about it, they just do it.
 
Murrmurr said:
That was in 2011 until 2014, when I sold my half of the store to the co-owner. It's been several years since I've seen any fees posted at a point of sale. Apparently, businesses are absorbing those costs through pricing....if they still exist. Credit card companies make billions in interest charges, so maybe banks don't charge point of sale transaction fees anymore, idk.

Maybe someone here knows.
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I'm not sure I'm understanding you. What is a point of transaction fee, and who pays it? I'm assuming the vendor pays it, because they complain about it, and that is their justification for charging the customers a surcharge, even though accepting the credit card brings more customers to them. Or at least it probably did at one time.

We live in a credit card era. Credit cards are cost of doing business. What's next? Will a business pass the cost of inventory shipped to the store with another added surcharge? Why not pass on the added expense of taxes on it's profits with a surcharge? Or maybe we should all hold the credit card companies responsible for this offensive mess.

I know it sounds like I'm bitching, probably because I am. But at the same time, I'm laughing at the greed and manipulation involved all around the table.

In today's business world, increasing profits seems to revolve around offering less and charging more. It's like capitalism has run out of quality, market share, product innovation, and service, which used to be the cornerstone of growth, or so I thought.
 
Eupher said:
The constant pimping for auto pay puts my teeth on edge. I refuse to do that, unless -- and most often -- it's a requirement for life insurance. In any event, I won't use THEIR auto pay; I'll schedule mine through my bank.
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My wife is getting less able to keep track of monthly payments, as much as I detest auto-pay I may switch over the bills that usually stay constant, like water and trash.
 
JustDave said:
I'm not sure I'm understanding you. What is a point of transaction fee, and who pays it? I'm assuming the vendor pays it, because they complain about it, and that is their justification for charging the customers a surcharge, even though accepting the credit card brings more customers to them. Or at least it probably did at one time.
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A business's bank charges (or charged) the business a fee every time a customer slid their card in that little machine to buy something. The business was prohibited from charging the customer the same fee that the business had to pay, which was generally 2 to 3 times higher. This was only one of a slew of bank fees businesses have (had) to pay their bank. The point-of-sale fees added up to thousands per month. The fee the customers paid off-set that total by only a few hundred/mo.
JustDave said:
We live in a credit card era. Credit cards are cost of doing business. What's next? Will a business pass the cost of inventory shipped to the store with another added surcharge? Why not pass on the added expense of taxes on it's profits with a surcharge? Or maybe we should all hold the credit card companies responsible for this offensive mess.

I know it sounds like I'm bitching, probably because I am. But at the same time, I'm laughing at the greed and manipulation involved all around the table.
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It doesn't sound like bitching, it sounds ludicrous. And, personally, I don't think it's at all funny that banks rip off small businesses, especially when they aren't the only entity that does.
JustDave said:
In today's business world, increasing profits seems to revolve around offering less and charging more. It's like capitalism has run out of quality, market share, product innovation, and service, which used to be the cornerstone of growth, or so I thought.
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You thought correctly.
 
Nathan said:
My wife is getting less able to keep track of monthly payments, as much as I detest auto-pay I may switch over the bills that usually stay constant, like water and trash.
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I use autopay for my credit card and mortgage payments, the only ones that stay constant here.

I've come to like it a lot. And it's really easy to go to a website to adjust the payment and the payment date if you want. That's nice.
 
In 2007 I took an overnight trip with a friend to Mystic, CT. We had separate rooms at a B&B. When the proprietor presented us with the bill, hers has a 3% extra charge because she paid with a CC. She was furious about it and said to me the B&B shouldn't do that. I paid with a check and had no extra fee incurred.
 

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