Minimum card spend.

a_car_person

Minimum spend on card purchases are so infuriating, I wanted to buy a £2.50 newspaper (as a one off) and then had to buy something I neither wanted nor needed to take it up to £3.

I know they do it to make offering card payments profitable due to the fees they incur but it really is frustrating when we live in a near-cashless society.

I also think they aren’t allowed to do this for licensing reasons but I’m not 100% sure. 

molerat

I also think they aren’t allowed to do this for licensing reasons but I’m not 100% sure.

What licencing reasons ?

Traders are allowed to set minimum spends for any form of payment they wish.  They are not allowed to charge different rates / surcharges for using a particular type of payment.

MalMonroe

Oh, I remember the (good?) old days when the minimum spend via debit card was £5 everywhere. 

Now, as molerat says above, traders set their own minimum payments.  Some places I've been will let you buy something for, say, 99p. Others say they can't accept small amounts. That's fine though and I really don't mind at all if it's an independent trader.

I don't think that setting £3 as a minimum spend is bad. Especially as in this instance you say it was only a one-off. 

TadleyBaggie

a_car_person said:

 it really is frustrating when we live in a near-cashless society.

Not where I live, many takeaways/cafes around here are cash only.

MorningcoffeeIV

a_car_person said:

I also think they aren’t allowed to do this for licensing reasons but I’m not 100% sure. 

That seems like a made up law.

Ms_Chocaholic

I was at a supermarket the other day, used vouchers and the final cost was 30p which I put on the credit card.

sheramber

A local baker's shop has a minimum spend of £5 for card payments

a_car_person

MorningcoffeeIV said:

a_car_person said:

I also think they aren’t allowed to do this for licensing reasons but I’m not 100% sure. 

That seems like a made up law.

I feel like I’ve read about it somewhere. I’ll look into it when I get chance though.

a_car_person

@MalMonroe
It isn’t that bad really but not something I’d planned for and I was annoyed I had to spend an extra 50p on something I neither wanted nor needed just to buy a newspaper. 

serpico100

Both Visa and MasterCard have specific rules for merchants. If there is a minimum spend for visa they are not breaking any rules as visa state:

A Merchant must not establish a minimum or maximum Transaction amount as a condition for honoring a Card.This does not apply to a European Economic Area Transaction or a Domestic Transaction accepted in the United Kingdom.

However, MasterCard have no such caveat and if the merchant accepts MasterCard and has a minimum spend they are contravening MasterCard rules:

A Merchant must not require, or indicate that it requires, a minimum or maximum Transaction amount to accept a valid and properly presented Mastercard or Maestro Card.

a_car_person

Thanks for the explanation!