Parentpay / Credit Card charges

gvicki53

I have always used my credit card to pay for meals, trips, music lessons, etc on parentpay. This month (Aug 2020) I have been charged two “cash transaction fees” of £5.99 each by my credit card. Has anyone else experienced this?  For security I don’t want to use my debit card online but I refuse to pay £5.99 per transaction for using my credit card. 

dr_adidas01

gvicki53 said:

I have always used my credit card to pay for meals, trips, music lessons, etc on parentpay. This month (Aug 2020) I have been charged two “cash transaction fees” of £5.99 each by my credit card. Has anyone else experienced this?  For security I don’t want to use my debit card online but I refuse to pay £5.99 per transaction for using my credit card. 

I'm surprised that its taken this long for your credit card provider to charge you a cash transaction fee (who is your credit card provider?), using your credit card for this type of payment is classed as a cash payment by most credit card providers.

gvicki53

It’s Tesco. 

So how am I supposed to make payments?

Sandtree

gvicki53 said:

It’s Tesco. 

So how am I supposed to make payments?

Debit card, PayPal if they accept it... up to you.

Why do you think your credit card is more secure than your debit card?

MallyGirl

I have always paid by Amex and never been charged a fee

Gerry1

Sandtree said:

Why do you think your credit card is more secure than your debit card?

If a fraudster gets hold of your credit card details, in the worst case you can just refuse to settle the disputed amounts on the bill.  If it's a debit card then it can be much harder to get your money returned.

gvicki53

I would never pay by debit card online. If someone gets the card details they could empty my bank account. At least with a credit card you have the opportunity to query and refuse certain transactions, which I have had to do several time in the past. 

jet01

dr_adidas01 said:

gvicki53 said:

I have always used my credit card to pay for meals, trips, music lessons, etc on parentpay. This month (Aug 2020) I have been charged two “cash transaction fees” of £5.99 each by my credit card. Has anyone else experienced this?  For security I don’t want to use my debit card online but I refuse to pay £5.99 per transaction for using my credit card. 

I'm surprised that its taken this long for your credit card provider to charge you a cash transaction fee (who is your credit card provider?), using your credit card for this type of payment is classed as a cash payment by most credit card providers.

Why is this classified as a cash payment by most credit card providers? Correct me if I’m wrong but this is essentially a service to allow parents to pay for children’s school meals and excursions by card. I fail to see why paying for a meal in advance by debit card should be classed as a cash advance by a CC company. Surely no different from topping up a Starbucks card for example or buying a restaurant voucher. They aren’t treated as a cash advance so can’t think of any legitimate reason why this should be either. 

Sandtree

gvicki53 said:

I would never pay by debit card online. If someone gets the card details they could empty my bank account. At least with a credit card you have the opportunity to query and refuse certain transactions, which I have had to do several time in the past. 

If they empty my current account they may get £1,000 if they are lucky and most the time it would be more likely under £500. If they ran my credit card up to its limit it would be £18,000 and my charge card in theory is "unlimited" (£60,000 they said they'd authorise when I checked the other day).

Personally have separated my monies between different accounts and the sole debit card I have is for my petty cash account so if is compromised its less of an issue for me than having the card I use for every transaction I can because I get rewards taken.  For fraud there is no material difference in your protection and other than AmEx, I've never noticed the current accounting side of the bank being materially different in speed/efficiency than the credit card side... if anything they are marginally faster (AmEx just wins hands down at speed to get the replacement card out). 

If for whatever reason they deem the transaction isn't fraudulent I'd rather lose £500 than £18,000. Yes I could "not pay it" but the bank aren't just going to write that off 

jonesMUFCforever

gvicki53 said:

It’s Tesco. 

So how am I supposed to make payments?

If you don't want to be charged a fee for using your credit card and you think using a debit card is unsafe you could always set up a faster payment from your bank account.
Just one thing to consider though, paying by card gives you protection using S.75 or chargeback. Paying direct to their account gives no such protection.

If it was me I would pay by debit card.

born_again

Gerry1 said:

Sandtree said:

Why do you think your credit card is more secure than your debit card?

If a fraudster gets hold of your credit card details, in the worst case you can just refuse to settle the disputed amounts on the bill.  If it's a debit card then it can be much harder to get your money returned.

Payment Services Directive

Might surprise you and gvicki53 that fraud on both debit & credit cards are treated in exactly the same way.