MasterCard debit cards at WalMart - policy change eff/ 2/1/04

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

DH was shopping at WalMart yesterday and passed on his receipt for me to log in the checkbook. I wanted to alert everyone to a statement that appears at the bottom of the receipt - particularly those with PayPal debit cards.


"As of 2/1/04, MasterCard debit cards can only be used if a PIN is entered"


So much for cash back on purchases made at WalMart with my PayPal debit card.

One of my banks charges me 50-cents per POS transaction when a PIN is entered, now WalMart won't accept this one for a "credit" purchase.

 

[jgates]

As of current time, I believe they are still accepting Visa checkcards without a PIN and are trying to still work out a deal with MC. If your bank offers both MC & Visa (we only do MC), contact and see if you can switch to Visa.

 

[DebbieB]

My bank (Citizens) has a Mastercard debit card and they sent out a notice a few months ago saying if you used debit instead of credit there would be a fee ($1 or $2). People are going to go back to writing checks, which always holds up the line.........

 

[jgates]

Part of the bank fee comes under the basis of income. If the customer uses the credit card type, the bank receives income from the transaction. A PIN based transaction receives no income (and depending on their system may become an expense). The charging of the fee offsets it.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Happily, my bank does not charge for POS transactions, it also gives me 4 or 5 foreign ATM transactions at no charge at their end.
As to check writing, geez, why can't folks fill the check in BEFORE they get to the check out line, then all they have to do is put in the amount and sign it. That has always been a pet peeve of mine.

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by GAIL HAYDEN
Happily, my bank does not charge for POS transactions, it also gives me 4 or 5 foreign ATM transactions at no charge at their end.
As to check writing, geez, why can't folks fill the check in BEFORE they get to the check out line, then all they have to do is put in the amount and sign it. That has always been a pet peeve of mine.

Tell me about it. I was stuck behind a woman writing a check in WalMart the other day and it must have taken 15 minutes to complete the transaction. The line was so long that she would have had ample time to fill in the check before hand.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by summerrluvv
Tell me about it. I was stuck behind a woman writing a check in WalMart the other day and it must have taken 15 minutes to complete the transaction. The line was so long that she would have had ample time to fill in the check before hand.

LOL, and I LOVE the ones that have to do the math before they can leave the line. Just enter the darn thing in your check register and move on. Or....how about the ones that do use the debit cards and it takes them FOREVER to put in their pin numbers, cripes you might think it was a life altering transaction.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by jgates
Part of the bank fee comes under the basis of income. If the customer uses the credit card type, the bank receives income from the transaction. A PIN based transaction receives no income (and depending on their system may become an expense). The charging of the fee offsets it.

POS or checks are pretty much the same. They both come out of your checking account. POS is much less expensive to process.
There is no paper handling which means a reduction in man hours and the merchant is not charged a per check deposited fee. They were supposed to eliminate check writing and make it more convienant for all involved. Naturally, some banks found they could make money off this money saving proposition. I really HATE the big banks.

 

[Shelby5514]

I do the deposit for a major department store and I can tell you that people were writing checks like crazy this holiday season. Last year we averaged 300-400 checks/day from Thanksgiving thru New Years. This year we were doing 600-700, some days going way over 1000. We were not expecting this as we had started taking debit cards during the summer. People just like to write checks. Yes it took us forever to process and encode all of them but hey, we're paid hourly, I wasn't going to complain. Great overtime money for Disney!!!

Shelby5514

 

[Debbie]

I'm from Canada, and I'm just trying to understand. What exactly is the a difference between your credit card and your debitcard? I have credit cards-VISA, MC, Sears etc. and I have a debit card. My debit card is an electronic funds transfer direct from my account to the stores, and naturally has a PIN number with it that I must enter-security and all. I know that the US system is different, so could you explain? Does Wal-Mart refusal to take debit cards, affect their taking MC credit cards??THANKS!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Debbie
I'm from Canada, and I'm just trying to understand. What exactly is the a difference between your credit card and your debitcard? I have credit cards-VISA, MC, Sears etc. and I have a debit card. My debit card is an electronic funds transfer direct from my account to the stores, and naturally has a PIN number with it that I must enter-security and all. I know that the US system is different, so could you explain? Does Wal-Mart refusal to take debit cards, affect their taking MC credit cards??THANKS!

I will try. Some debit cards have the visa/mc logo attached to them. They can be used as a debit card or a credit card (of course, the limit when used as a credit card is: a. set at what you have available in your checking or savings account. b. has a limit to what you can purchase with it on any given day.
They are very handy when folks don't accept debit cards or checks but do accept credit cards.

 

[DebbieB]

Originally, debit cards could only be used with a PIN. I guess the banks realized that alot of locations did not have the machine for the PIN so they swung a deal with Mastercard/Visa to use them as credit, with Mastercard/Visa taking a fee from the store like they do on other credit transactions. Now I guess Mastercard is charging Walmart too much to process the credit transaction. It could be a pressure tactic by Walmart to get Mastercard to lower their fees.

 

[brandip22]

I'm a manager at a local bank, so we certainly don't charge for things like that- we want those customers! Besides, we make money many other ways than just fee income. Visa & MC don't charge that much! I also own a business and we take credit and debit cards. The debit cards are actually MUCH more expensive for us to take if they use their PIN, so we only do them as a credit card. This also helps in the event of fraud on the account, because Visa requires the bank take the hit if there is fraud. Not good for banks, but great for customers. And without you as our customer, we wouldn't be here, so why would I nickle & dime my customers who are making my proof operator's life easier by not writing checks? I just don't understand the BIG banks- and I used to work for one of the largest! I would suggest you bank with the community banks- not only do they typically charge less, but they also keep the revenue from their customers in your town, to help you, not some other big city far away. JMHO

 

[jgates]

Very valid points!

My bank also does not charge for POS. We do allow up to $600 or $1000 (can't remember which) per day in POS (PIN based) transactions. Signature based are unlimited. So this can also have an adverse affect on the customer using the card. Make sure you check your daily limits if any apply for your card. Most banks can also raise those limits on a card by card basis.

WM's refusal to take debit does not affect credit. It may also change in the future as things are still being ironed out.

Other retailers such as (I never saved the article so I hope I get these right) Best Buy and Home Depot refused the settlement in this lawsuit and have their own that is still being hammered out.