credit card charge

Deb59_2

is it legal for companies to charge you for using a credit card to pay for something? I want to buy a car for £4000 and the car company is charging me £50 if i pay by credit card

opinions4u

Yes.

As long as the additional charge only covers their costs of providing the service of accepting a card.

dzug1

Yes it's legal

There's a new law that says that they cannot charge more (in broad terms) than it costs them - not sure if it's fully implemented

You are being charged 1.25% which looks decidedly low.

InsideInsurance

As long as it is proportional to the costs that they pay. The guidelines has been that up to 3% fee is likely to be considered proportional, you are being charged 1.25% so well under the guidelines

Given you get credit cards giving more than 1.25% cashback you could still make a profit even with the fee.

YorkshireBoy

Yes it's "legal", providing they only charge what it costs them.

May I ask why you're wanting to use a credit card? If it's because you don't have access to your own money, then you don't have a choice! If it's because you're looking for the extra protection section 75 affords, then it's only necessary to pay a deposit by credit card to secure section 75 protection on the full item cost (subject to the normal 'rules').

chattychappy

dzug1 wrote: »

You are being charged 1.25% which looks decidedly low.

Agreed. I suppose the dealer will face a cost no matter how they accept the money. £50 for the CC - they put it through the machine. I think my bank charges 0.5% for receiving cash - £20 in this case. A banker's draft would likely be cheaper to pay in, but both the last two require taking to the bank.

A travel agent I know does surcharge CCs, but by less than what they are charged simply because of the costs/risks of other methods. Perhaps that's what's happening here.

Deb59_2

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Yes it's "legal", providing they only charge what it costs them.

May I ask why you're wanting to use a credit card? If it's because you don't have access to your own money, then you don't have a choice! If it's because you're looking for the extra protection section 75 affords, then it's only necessary to pay a deposit by credit card to secure section 75 protection on the full item cost (subject to the normal 'rules').

Hi, I want to pay for the car with my credit card because I have worked out that if I transfer it to an interest free on balance transfer card then I dont pay any interest,do you think thats a good idea?

opinions4u

Deb59 wrote: »

Hi, I want to pay for the car with my credit card because I have worked out that if I transfer it to an interest free on balance transfer card then I dont pay any interest,do you think thats a good idea?

You need to factor in the following:

1) Do you have a 0% card you are able to transfer it to?
2) The £50 dealer's credit card fee.
3) Any balance transfer fee - typically c£135.
4) Any interest you will pay after the 0% deal expires (or subsequent balance transfer fee to move to another 0% card).

Deb59_2

thanks for that,yes I have found that tesco have just brought out a 0%on balance transfers with a 0% transfer fee,I will try to pay it back within the time if not then transfer to another 0%card