Credit card user fee?

Big Dan said:

Just go to the bank and write yourself out a check to cash. Even easier most banks will let you withdraw above your debit card's daily limit so long as it's swiped at a teller's station in the bank.

Bigger stores (Wal-Mart, Grocery Stores) will let you get cash back when you pay with a debit card. This is most often how I get my cash.

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Haven't been inside a bank in years -- if I get a check for some reason to deposit, I put it in an envelope and mail it to them. 40 cents for a stamp, as opposed to $4 in gas, plus fighting the traffic, and waiting in line. Haven't been in Walmart in about 8 years, and I go grocery shopping maybe a couple times a year. Get most of my food from Amazon (I get free shipping with Prime). Unless ShopRite is having a can-can sale, I usually don't bother - it's incredible busy down here, you have to hunt for a parking space, and then get run over by little old ladies carts, and then wait in line a half hour. Traffic is insane here now, especially if you get near the airport, 84 or the Thruway (which of course, is where most of the big stores are).

Besides, it's flu season, so I try to stay away from people...

steve149 said:

A lot of the minimums are due to the per transaction fee. For most purchases it's 2.x% + .30. The 30 cents is a bigger bite under $10.

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I'll give you an example -- with PP, if I sell a product for $9.99, they take 69 cents, which leaves me with $9.30. Now I'm in the software business, so my development costs are already long paid for -- but let's say I was Haleem (that's not really his name) up the street. I get to see the prices he pays for the stuff he sells, because we get along well, and he needs somebody to watch the store when he has to go to the little boys room, or the bank next door.

Something he sells for $9.99, generally costs him less than half that. So, he has wiggle room to cover the CC payments, and still make a decent profit. The only things he doesn't have much wiggle room on, is smokes and gas. He makes a good amount on coffee and food though. So, in the end, it all seems to work out.

BTW, the Chinese places around here, only have a minimum $10 for free delivery. I've haven't seen any minimum credit card amount in ages, as mentioned. I think I did see some in N. & S. Carolina when I came up last summer...

Haven't seen any on the gas pumps either.

ahoustondj said:

We don't allow people to rip us off.

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Yes, you do.

the reality is All credit card fees are payed for by the customer. Its just built in tothe cost. The only difference is now it will be more transparent to the customer.
i still think a company is better off letting people believe that using a credit card is free. Kind of like how people love FREE shipping. It ain't free, it's just built in to the cost.

The states that aren't allowing it don't think their citizens are smart enough to make an informed decision as to who to do business with.

if a company does want to charge more for using a credit card, I do believe they'd be better off offering a "discount" for cash as mentioned before.

Big Dan said:

Don't lie you just hate people.

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There's a few I like...

Scott Hanna said:

Yes, you do.

the reality is All credit card fees are payed for by the customer. Its just built in tothe cost. The only difference is now it will be more transparent to the customer.
i still think a company is better off letting people believe that using a credit card is free. Kind of like how people love FREE shipping. It ain't free, it's just built in to the cost.

The states that aren't allowing it don't think their citizens are smart enough to make an informed decision as to who to do business with.

if a company does want to charge more for using a credit card, I do believe they'd be better off offering a "discount" for cash as mentioned before.

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Have to disagree with the line I highlighted. In my example above about the convenience store (and they're every 2 blocks around here), they make it up in other ways. Lots of people stop in for breakfast or lunch, and they make some great profit on that.The lottery is another big deal up here -- the retailer gets a 6% commission, Haleems sells thousands every day. People come in all the time, and buy $50-100 worth of tickets. Again, lots of wiggle room there, so they still profit well even with CC fees.

So, it's not in their best interests to charge more for products to potentially cover those CC fees.

It's not all chump change, and there are consumer benefits to buying with a credit card (not debit card - which is an immediate electronic transfer).

People often use credit cards for the rewards. Business card holders can accrue rewards very quickly by using credit cards wherever accepted. If the merchant adds a fee that increases the price of the goods and offsets the benefit of reward programs. You could expect to see a decline in certain corporate card use. (Many reward programs ring in at the rate of 1% or less, often as low as a penny or two per thousand.)

Many of my clients are corporate invoices. I once had someone pay a $10,000 invoice by Amex just for the points. At 3% that was $300 out of my sale - or with this new fee would be $300 added to their bill. Merchant fees and associated costs are a real expense and it can have a chilling affect on many customer profiles. There are sales that might not happen if the client did not have the ability to finance it with their card - or if the cost were to increase because of retailer's charging extra for card use.

The economic environment in my opinion is poised for decline. It's not just new fees from retailers, or new transaction fees from credit card companies and banks. There is an ever escalating tax burden as well. Her in Massachusetts cities and towns have been allowed to start assessing their own local sales taxes. On a recent truck rental I had to pay 6.25% MA sales tax, plus 7% city sales tax. If there were a 3% credit card charge as well - that's an extra cost of 16.25% before I even drive off the lot. Now consider my fuel price is $0.39 /Gal higher thanks to taxes, and if I return the truck empty and the Rental agent bills me for the gas - I even end up paying sales taxes on the gas taxes! I pay double the standard toll rates for commercial vehicles, and all that before I do my state income tax at 5.25% and my Federal taxes at 28%. If I decide to put any money in a savings account the state taxes the 1.5% interest I earn at 12% and the Feds want to raise their rate to 30%.


Let's not forget that the IRS now tracks all credit card merchant revenues with required 1099-K filings, and you have to separate out the CC payments from your gross revenues when filing your income tax returns.

Given the level of required filings, reporting, and taxation - maybe all purchases/payments should just go to the government and then they can toss us back 20% to scrape by on.

Bob, you should move to S. FL. No state income tax, flat 6% sales tax, no city tax, etc.

It's cheaper to live there than up north here, and there's plenty of work to go around (plus you don't have to shovel snow, or pay for heat).

Just don't wear a hoodie -- they don't seem to go over well down there...

ittigger said:

I drive through there - at least once a year - 287N to 84E - where are these big stores you speak of - haven't seen them in my travels (unless I'm rolling so fast that they're a blur - which is a possibility).

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They're all on Rte. 300, which connects to 84, the Thruway, and the airport. All the hotels, Newburgh Mall, Walmart, Stop and Shop, and a gazillion other places. Lots of hotels -- Hilton, Ramada, Holiday Inn, Quality Inn, Hampton, Days Inn, Super 8, Marriot, etc. Home Depot, Lowes, and a bunch of others. Then there's all the car dealerships. There's about 30-40 restaurants in a 2 mile area.

It's a zoo out there, which is why I don't go out that way -- takes you 20 minutes to go a mile or two.

On the other hand, my highway here, is the quickest way to get on 84 and get out there (west of the Newburgh/Beacon bridge) -- that's why we have so much traffic down by the river -- only two stop lights.

The people who have been fighting and objecting to the allowance of credit card usage fees has been...

The credit card companies.

Why? Because they know that if a consumer is told they are going to pay more for using a credit card...they will use it less.

The credit card companies want people to use the card as much as possible. So it has always been in their best interest for the merchant to build the fee into the price of the product.

Now that the merchant has the choice, I think a number of them will decide to add on the fee, thinking it will save them money.

The reality is that their customers will think they are being nickled and dimed and go elsewhere...or spend less.

I will not being charging an additional fee to pay with a credit card.

SoftJock Rick said:

Bob, you should move to S. FL. No state income tax, flat 6% sales tax, no city tax, etc.

It's cheaper to live there than up north here, and there's plenty of work to go around (plus you don't have to shovel snow, or pay for heat).

Just don't wear a hoodie -- they don't seem to go over well down there...

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LOL. ...and if you don't mind the occasional hurricane wiping your city off the map it's probably perfect!

Proformance said:

LOL. ...and if you don't mind the occasional hurricane wiping your city off the map it's probably perfect!

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That's why I like Naples -- the odds of a hurricane hitting there are about 1.7% -- the last one that hit there was about 45 years ago, if I recall correctly.

We just get the outer rain bands down there, and then the sun comes out, and dries it up in a half hour or so.

Location, location, location