Charges when paying by Credit Card

Bundy_2

I've just had this horrible feeling that I've been ripped off for years.

I was interested in Royal Mail's new "print your own postage stamps" through their website, and upon looking how to pay, discovered that if the total is UNDER £3.50 then you can pay by any CREDIT card. If it is OVER £3.50 then you would be allowed to use a debit card.

This struck me as odd as when I've paid for items in the past (normally bits for computers from smaller shops) I've been told:-

- No Charge if paying by DEBIT card,
- Small charge (usaully 1.5 / 2%) if paying by CREDIT CARD to cover "bank fees" whatever they were.

And this is the way it's been for many years and have accpeted it and never thought any more about it.

So, if Royal Mail can afford these "bank charges" on a 32p stamp, why is it the other way around for shops?

Has anybody else encountered this? Are we being ripped off?

Astaroth

No - a debit card costs a flat 30p fee for the vast majority of merchants (special rates can be negotiated for people that will only ever take payments under £5 etc)

You are correct in saying that a credit card is simply a % of the transaction amount - normally 2-3% but there are high risk companies that pay more and massive organisations who through buying power pay less.

This is why you can get "cashback" on a debit card in supermarkets etc but not credit card - as they are accepting the card for the goods they are already going to have to pay the 30p and so doesnt make any difference to them if they give you extra back as cash where as with a credit card they would have to pay the 2% on the cashback amount and so be out of pocket.