"Ethics" of credit card spending

Theleak250

MyRealNameToo said:

Theleak250 said:

I was in Sweden last year and it was very difficult to find shops which took Amex, one of the shops told me it’s because if they take an Amex payment, it takes ages to receive the money and cost more in fees, so the stores are also being exploited to an extent with some providers. 

Given Sweden is in the EU and therefore AmEx there is subject to the same interchange fee caps (exc their metal cards) it sounds like the shop workers are just repeating the old urban myths. 

If you look at modern payment solutions like Dojo, Zettle, SumUp etc there is no difference in fees for AmEx (inc their metal cards) nor settlement times. You can accept AmEx without going directly to AmEx and its your merchant bank provider that sets the settlement timescales not exclusively the card network. 

Theleak250 said:
 I know muslims who have Amex also. 

Thats a very odd thing to feel the need to point out, each of the card networks offer a murabaha based credit card in islamic territories. 

The old chargecards in the UK would also be halal but 1) AmEx has withdrawn them for new customers and 2) both Visa and Mastercard can also be used for charge cards but its down to the issuer if they structure them as charge or credit. There arent many options for charge cards full stop these days but a few private banks (eg Handelsbanken) offer them unlike AmEx

Well unless you are a shopkeeper in Sweden I think most of us are less qualified to state that. Regardless of on paper fees, it doesn’t always meet reality. 

Someone had commented above that Amex was unislamic or something along those lines, that’s why I pointed it out, so relax. 

MyRealNameToo

Theleak250 said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Theleak250 said:

I was in Sweden last year and it was very difficult to find shops which took Amex, one of the shops told me it’s because if they take an Amex payment, it takes ages to receive the money and cost more in fees, so the stores are also being exploited to an extent with some providers. 

Given Sweden is in the EU and therefore AmEx there is subject to the same interchange fee caps (exc their metal cards) it sounds like the shop workers are just repeating the old urban myths. 

If you look at modern payment solutions like Dojo, Zettle, SumUp etc there is no difference in fees for AmEx (inc their metal cards) nor settlement times. You can accept AmEx without going directly to AmEx and its your merchant bank provider that sets the settlement timescales not exclusively the card network. 

Theleak250 said:
 I know muslims who have Amex also. 

Thats a very odd thing to feel the need to point out, each of the card networks offer a murabaha based credit card in islamic territories. 

The old chargecards in the UK would also be halal but 1) AmEx has withdrawn them for new customers and 2) both Visa and Mastercard can also be used for charge cards but its down to the issuer if they structure them as charge or credit. There arent many options for charge cards full stop these days but a few private banks (eg Handelsbanken) offer them unlike AmEx

Well unless you are a shopkeeper in Sweden I think most of us are less qualified to state that. Regardless of on paper fees, it doesn’t always meet reality. 

On the basis that there was a major lawsuit against AmEx in the EU for them allegedly breaching EU legislation we can probably say fairly certainly 

Theleak250

MyRealNameToo said:

Theleak250 said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Theleak250 said:

I was in Sweden last year and it was very difficult to find shops which took Amex, one of the shops told me it’s because if they take an Amex payment, it takes ages to receive the money and cost more in fees, so the stores are also being exploited to an extent with some providers. 

Given Sweden is in the EU and therefore AmEx there is subject to the same interchange fee caps (exc their metal cards) it sounds like the shop workers are just repeating the old urban myths. 

If you look at modern payment solutions like Dojo, Zettle, SumUp etc there is no difference in fees for AmEx (inc their metal cards) nor settlement times. You can accept AmEx without going directly to AmEx and its your merchant bank provider that sets the settlement timescales not exclusively the card network. 

Theleak250 said:
 I know muslims who have Amex also. 

Thats a very odd thing to feel the need to point out, each of the card networks offer a murabaha based credit card in islamic territories. 

The old chargecards in the UK would also be halal but 1) AmEx has withdrawn them for new customers and 2) both Visa and Mastercard can also be used for charge cards but its down to the issuer if they structure them as charge or credit. There arent many options for charge cards full stop these days but a few private banks (eg Handelsbanken) offer them unlike AmEx

Well unless you are a shopkeeper in Sweden I think most of us are less qualified to state that. Regardless of on paper fees, it doesn’t always meet reality. 

On the basis that there was a major lawsuit against AmEx in the EU for them allegedly breaching EU legislation we can probably say fairly certainly 

It’s possible they just don’t like Amex in these countries. Although Visa and Mastercard are hardly small players.