Charged for using debit card
Comments
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With card payments, they may have to deal with fraud.
I could be viewed as legitimate if they factored this into the card fee.0 -
I could be viewed as legitimate if they factored this into the card fee.
"Shame and scandal in the family"?:)0 -
Not according to the guidance notes linked previously:With card payments, they may have to deal with fraud.
I could be viewed as legitimate if they factored this into the card fee.costs related to bad debt, collections, and general costs of running a business which may be indirectly associated with taking payments (e.g. administrative costs, equipment installation and set-up fees, costs deriving from fraud and risk management, and staff–related costs such as training) are not legitimate costs recoverable under these Regulations0 -
This happens more and more these days as Visa and Mastercard now allow retailers to pass card charges directly onto customers.
The thing is that with Debit Card retailers face a fixed charge of 40p to 60p, with Credit Cards it is 2% to 3.4% per transaction.
some like Paypal and Stripe will charged per transaction 3.4% + 20p (paypal), 2.9% + 20p (stripe) across the board.
retailers can only charge what they are charged, so if a card provider charges 2.5% then the retailer can only add a 2.5% fee they cannot charge 2.6%, but they could charge 2.4%0 -
angryparcel wrote: »This happens more and more these days as Visa and Mastercard now allow retailers to pass card charges directly onto customers.
The thing is that with Debit Card retailers face a fixed charge of 40p to 60p, with Credit Cards it is 2% to 3.4% per transaction.
some like Paypal and Stripe will charged per transaction 3.4% + 20p (paypal), 2.9% + 20p (stripe) across the board.
retailers can only charge what they are charged, so if a card provider charges 2.5% then the retailer can only add a 2.5% fee they cannot charge 2.6%, but they could charge 2.4%
The interchange fees are now in % for both debit and credit transactions. Also, the % for consumer credit isn't massively different from debit cards.
It boils down to what deal they have with their card processor.0 -
The interchange fees are now in % for both debit and credit transactions. Also, the % for consumer credit isn't massively different from debit cards.
It boils down to what deal they have with their card processor.
DC still capped at 50p for a transaction value of £245 and raised to £1 cap at £495
http://www.cardswitcher.co.uk/2016/05/uk-card-processing-fees-change-2016-2/0 -
I don't see your first sentence as being relevant even if your interpretation is correct - yes, of course fraud is more likely with card payments than cash ones, but what those regulations are saying is that retailers can't include (any) fraud-related (or other indirect) costs as a component of card surcharges, i.e. they need to absorb them in their standard pricing across all methods of payment, which is expressed more clearly in the paragraph following the one I quoted before:That appears to be fraud generally, rather than specially related to card payments. Cash payments are unlike to have this issue as they either have the payment or don't.
The document also highlights what are considered legitimate card-related costs for surcharging and these are clearly direct ones rather than indirect:To be clear, the Department does not consider that indirect costs, such as general administrative overheads or staff training, should be included in the calculation of costs borne by the trader. Indirect costs, in addition to other internal business costs that may be wholly or partly attributable to the taking of payments, should instead be reflected in the headline price of goods and services, as they ought to be for any general cost categories.For card payments, legitimate payment surcharges could include fees directly charged to the business such as:
• The Merchant Service Charge, which traders pay to their acquiring bank. This includes the interchange fee paid by the trader’s bank to the card issuer; the fees paid by the trader’s bank to the scheme (e.g. Visa or Mastercard); and the margin retained by the trader’s bank to cover costs and profit.
• The transaction/overhead fees paid by the trader to intermediaries for some or all of the merchant services usually provided by the acquirer bank. This is where an intermediary acts as a point of contact for retailers and typically deals with the acquirer bank, charging a mark-up on the acquirer bank’s fees for the relevant services.0 -
Here's the reply from York Theatre Royal. I'd be grateful for any advice on whether it is reasonable or not. Many thanksWhen we first introduced the fee it was in response to funding cuts by both the Arts Council England and local authority cuts. As a registered not for profit charity we have for years absorbed the costs of payment processing which are on the increase due in some part to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. We decided after consulting the Consumer Rights (Payment surcharges) Regulations 2012 documentation, to charge an administration or booking fee based on the transaction as a whole rather than the payment method. If the charge is the same regardless of the card payment method and is imposed as a booking or administration fee, then the amount is not restricted by the regulations.
We wanted to be able to waive the fee for members and participatory activities which are on the whole cheaper and educational and by using an administration/booking fee we were able to do this. I hope that my explanation makes the fee clearer and that at all times we do have the best interests of our bookers at the centre of everything we do. By passing this cost onto our customers we are able to re-invest the money we would have paid for these charges back into the organisation.0 -
I think they're wrong to say "If the charge is the same regardless of the card payment method and is imposed as a booking or administration fee, then the amount is not restricted by the regulations".
If they removed the word 'card' then that would be fair enough as it would be a standard booking fee applied across all payment methods (including cash), but as they're specifically surcharging only for certain payment types they need to comply with the regulations.0
This discussion has been closed.
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