Are retailers breaching merchant rules by imposing minimum spend to pay by card?

iAMaLONDONER

Buzby wrote: »

When cards were introduced it was a merchant requirement that retailers could not add additional charges for card payments, and could not insist on a minimum spend.

This was quickly forgotten about when the merchant agreements we re-drawn in the late 70's - now, with the exception of petrol and diesel (where no surcharge can be applied) everything else is fair game. The stipulation is that any restrictions or additional costs must be signalled in advance.

It's a shame if that was the case in the 70s

INT1

Even if they introduced a ban on merchants imposing a Credit card handling fee, they would then just pass the processing fees on to what goods or services they are selling to which everyone then gets penalised!

iAMaLONDONER

INT1 wrote: »

Even if they introduced a ban on merchants imposing a Credit card handling fee, they would then just pass the processing fees on to what goods or services they are selling to which everyone then gets penalised!

Well all the supermarkets have already done this lol!

michael1983l

The travel companies get around the Credit Card Surcharge, by calling it an Admin fee instead of which there are no rules on limits. Totally useless. ruling. If the companies want the money they will just charge you for it in other ways.

Hominu

Our local garage has a similar scheme - they don't charge anything for credit or debit cards, but if you decide to pay by cash you get a 3% discount.

zaax

Hominu wrote: »

Our local garage has a similar scheme - they don't charge anything for credit or debit cards, but if you decide to pay by cash you get a 3% discount.

It costs more to process cash than a debit card, though cash can be diverted.

reclusive46

zaax wrote: »

It costs more to process cash than a debit card, though cash can be diverted.

My local garage likes to keep some of its transactions off the books So this probably why.

iAMaLONDONER

zaax wrote: »

It costs more to process cash than a debit card, though cash can be diverted.

Not always! Surely not for small businesses where merchant fees can be extortionate( and much more expensive than those for bigger retailers such as Tesco!)

zerog

Aquamania wrote: »

You'd better tell the government DVLA about that ruling

Since when does the DVLA have a CC surcharge?

I wasn't charged extra when I renewed my DL (in person) in Jan 2012

Tixy

zerog wrote: »

Since when does the DVLA have a CC surcharge?

I wasn't charged extra when I renewed my DL (in person) in Jan 2012

They do for car tax (VED) - or used to at least.