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

eskbanker

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

You may be able to avoid it at their own offices but for online, phone or Post Office tax applications they charge £2.50, see https://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/app/home/help#topic2:

Why is there an additional charge for using a credit card?
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is increasing the ways in which customers can pay tax. Anyone taxing online or over the phone can now pay by credit card.

The charge levied by credit card companies for this facility will be passed on to the customer. Following a public consultation exercise on a number of different options, a flat rate charge for credit card payments was chosen. The £2.50 charge covers the costs incurred by the Agency for providing this service. Debit card payments will remain free of charge.

Other payment methods include paying by cash, cheque or debit card at a Post Office®. If using a credit card at the Post Office® the £2.50 charge will also be incurred per transaction.

iAMaLONDONER

eskbanker wrote: »

You may be able to avoid it at their own offices but for online, phone or Post Office tax applications they charge £2.50, see https://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/app/home/help#topic2:

Surely it's just better to pay using a debit card, especially if you pay off the balance in full anyway?

eskbanker

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

Surely it's just better to pay using a debit card, especially if you pay off the balance in full anyway?

Well yes, but that's a different question - the theme of this thread is the existence and/or legality of CC surcharges, rather than the obvious ways of avoiding them!

red_flump

We have a CC machine at work (oil seal wholesaler) and it costs about 4% to process credit cards (minimal fixed fee for debit cards). So it can depend on the agreement.

reclusive46

red_flump wrote: »

We have a CC machine at work (oil seal wholesaler) and it costs about 4% to process credit cards (minimal fixed fee for debit cards). So it can depend on the agreement.

Is that because you mostly take business or corporate cards? These are usually a couple of percent higher than when taking a Personal Visa or MasterCard.

iAMaLONDONER

eskbanker wrote: »

Well yes, but that's a different question - the theme of this thread is the existence and/or legality of CC surcharges, rather than the obvious ways of avoiding them!

I'm the OP and the theme was the legality of card surcharges/min spends (including debit cards)

dtaylor84

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

I'm the OP and the theme was the legality of card surcharges/min spends (including debit cards)

Don't think there's any way to prohibit minimum spends -- a retailer is free to refuse any transaction they want, so if they think a credit card transaction for £0.01 is more trouble than it's worth they're free to tell you to pay by cash or forget it.

iAMaLONDONER

dtaylor84 wrote: »

Don't think there's any way to prohibit minimum spends -- a retailer is free to refuse any transaction they want, so if they think a credit card transaction for £0.01 is more trouble than it's worth they're free to tell you to pay by cash or forget it.

Ok, I accept that, as local legislation trumps merchant agreements.

On a tangent I once paid 15p by debit card at Pizza express ( is there a chance that they made a loss due to merchant fees?)