Posts: 10,842
Threads: 744
Joined: Sep 2012
including charging more for cards that cost them more to process.
I haven’t had merchant services for several years now, but when I did I was told there was no way to determine what the % charge was until I was billed. Do you know if that’s changed? If you can see the % when you tap, swipe, chip?
Posts: 7,693
Threads: 681
Joined: Jun 2011
(12-05-2023, 06:16 AM)HereOnThePrimalEdge Wrote: including charging more for cards that cost them more to process.
I haven’t had merchant services for several years now, but when I did I was told there was no way to determine what the % charge was until I was billed. Do you know if that’s changed? If you can see the % when you tap, swipe, chip?
I doubt it. I know some cards just have higher fees than others (I think AMEX was our most expensive to process). My guess is that a merchant going this route would just charge customers whatever the credit card fees average out to. Most merchants that charge for credit cards don't charge for debit cards, because they cost much less to process. So consumers still have a cashless option to transact and avoid fees.
Most shoppers curl their lip at merchants charging them a fee to use a credit card, and I've suggested to some merchants I know to get rid of it, and replace it with a "cash discount" like what the gas stations do. It accomplishes the exact same thing and spins the narrative from greed towards generosity, but apparently reprogramming the register isn't worth it to them.
