@slippinjimmy wrote:
@randysauto01 wrote:This is why some places have signs up at their registers that state there will be 50 cent charge added to your purchase if it is less than $5 dollars. Its to help off set the percentage that the merchant service provider will take out of the sale.
Just wanting to clear this up......
You mention retailers who add a surcharge for low value transactions paid with a credit card. You said you don't agree (and I agree with that) but you also say "It's certainly within their rights". Actually it is NOT within their rights and it is a violation of any merchant agreement involving Visa, MasterCard, Amex and probably every other credit card issuer. All of the credit card issuers strictly forbid surcharges of any type, that would include low value transaction or in the case of customers who use foreign cards that have additional fees.
It's a violation for Visa and MasterCard - not for Amex. Then again, Amex has the highest merchant discount rate of all credit cards, which is why some retailers choose not to accept Amex. That may have changed in current years, but when I was working on the multi-national payment software for an international firm, Amex was the highest and the only one that allowed retailers to add a surcharge.
That rule is also why retailers started offering 5% discount for cash -- it might have been a bit more than what the CC would have taken, but with no CC discount and no Payment Processor fee, most retailers did OK on a cash-only basis.
-Bob.
