Oyster Ticket Shops Cred/Debit card fee

fiddyp

Oyster Ticket Shops are basically just newsagents that have a licence to sell Oyster topups. My question is, do they have a right to apply a credit/debit card fee? I ask because I tried to pay for a £5 topup at two different shops and was asked to pay a 50p fee for using a card (i.e. 10% which I think is extorinate; far more than the the cost to the retailer). I refused and withdrew cash from an ATM to pay for it.

dacouch

The cost to a small retailer for processing a debit card is circa 40p to 65p, their margin on oyster cards must be around 5% to maybe 10% so I don't think the charge is over the top

dzug1

Any retailer has the right to put a surcharge or limit on card usage.

benjus

Don't forget that debit cards typically cost the retailer a fixed amount, while credit cards are typically a percentage. So from the retailer's point of view it can be cheaper to accept a credit card than a debit card for small purchases. For example, when paying online for postage for small items, Royal Mail will only accept credit cards. However, small retailers often prefer to keep things simple and just have one surcharge or limit for both debit and credit cards.

chuckley

do u have a problem paying by card for any grocery goods in said shops?!

fiddyp

I think you are missing the point. Transport for London is a not for profit government body which runs Oyster. The Oyster system allows people to use London's public transport systems and interchange between different types of transport more easily. For Oyster to work, there have to be plenty of places for people to topup their Oyster cards. If you're travelling by rail or underground, fine you can do this at the stations.

If you're travelling by bus, then it's a different story. If you travel by bus and you go to one of these designated Oyster ticket shops (essentially just newsagents with a licence to topup Oyster), you're going to be a hit with a surcharge when paying by card which you won't get when buying from the train/underground station. This is unfair. If TfL wants to farm out Oyster ticket sales to third parties, these third party sellers shouldn't be allowed to add on their own arbitrary administration fee on top.

I am not having a moan at newsagents - I'm saying TfL should make it financially viable for the ticket shops to sell Oyster topups without added fees for the customers.

And by the way - I never pay using a card if it means I'll be charged. I'll use cash or another payment method. If everyone did this instead of bending over and taking it, companies might stop trying to rip people off in this way.

dacouch

That's not what your original post argued though is it.

For TFL to make it viable, they would in effect have to put the cost of travel up for everyone to cover the cost of the minority who want to pay by card at a newsagents etc.

giraffe69

The Oyster system allows people to use London's public transport systems and interchange between different types of transport more easily. For Oyster to work, there have to be plenty of places for people to topup their Oyster cards. If you're travelling by rail or underground, fine you can do this at the stations.

How about visiting a station and putting more than £5 on the card or perhaps visiting the shop and putting more than £5 on the card or even visit the cashpoint and then put more cash on the card? That way you have a topped up card, the shop can levy a charge for low use of a debit card and the rest of us don't have to pay more because you prefer to top up with a derisory amount each time.

Of course you can avoid all this by using auto top up so it puts money on your card when it falls below a certain amount using your credit card or bank account as you choose.

fiddyp

giraffe69 wrote: »

How about visiting a station and putting more than £5 on the card or perhaps visiting the shop and putting more than £5 on the card or even visit the cashpoint and then put more cash on the card? That way you have a topped up card, the shop can levy a charge for low use of a debit card and the rest of us don't have to pay more because you prefer to top up with a derisory amount each time.

Of course you can avoid all this by using auto top up so it puts money on your card when it falls below a certain amount using your credit card or bank account as you choose.

Wow, you call £5 derisory? Many people have to work an hour to earn that. For some people, the 50p charge is a lot of money. I don't really know why you're trawling the money saving forums if you don't give a toss about saving money, which is clearly no object for you.

fiddyp

dacouch wrote: »

That's not what your original post argued though is it.

For TFL to make it viable, they would in effect have to put the cost of travel up for everyone to cover the cost of the minority who want to pay by card at a newsagents etc.

Nope, because I can go and topup using my debit/credit card with no fee at any station or online. This is about price discrimination when topping up ones Oyster card at different "official" locations.

brian_723

This is a non issue ,if there was no choice but to pay by card then it would be wrong, but their are so many ways to avoid paying this .if the 50p is that important and it would be for me i would simply have the cash .I see tis as a non issue ,why she the retailer take the hit ,they are in this for the money and not to provide a public service .