merchants can now charge more if you use plastic.

[NYDisneyKid]

so is this to mean car rentals, airlines, park tickets, etc??? paying by cash saves you??

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/...?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl6|sec3_lnk1|176325

 

[dburg30]

Paying by cash COULD save you. Many retailers probably wont change their pricing. Where I work at we have fairly high priced lawn care equipment, that sells at a low margin. The lowest % we would pay on a CC transaction is abou 1.8%. So if it was a 3000 item that cost us 54 or so at LEAST to run that. Discover is more, and Amex we dont even take anymore because it was starting to approach 4.5 - 5%. On our high dollar items many times if we have one special priced we would ALWAYS in big letters put CASH PRICE with the price. We cant list a price then say we will charge you more, but if we specify CASH PRICE then we could say if you want to pay with a CC it will be 2% more or whatever. Same when we do instore financing. This isnt like the car dealer where they make money selling financing, it almost always costs us to run credit thru the manufactured sponsored programs (granted, many times it's a low % rate for the consumer).
I dont see lots of places really changing their pricing since they are pretty much wanting CC's because they know the money is good, and they pretty much only take CC's.

ETA: as the article says many consumers, I would say the vast majority of them, for some reason think we either get paid to take CC's or dont get charged... Some probably dont believe us when we tell them we have to pay.. /shrug, I know the truth.

 

[seashoreCM]

All these years (40 or so since they invented master card) all merchants could offer a discount to customers paying cash but almost all would not even if the customer specifically asked.

Cash has its own problems. It has to be counted, it could be counterfeit, and it needs extra care and handling on the property to minimize loss and theft. What was the closest distance (in inches) you saw in a store a sign like "no bills over $20." next to a master card or visa logo?

 

[bicker]

That's really critical: There is a significant cost to accepting cash. Is that cost higher or lower than the cost of accepting credit cards? It depends, and so it makes sense that each business can assess the situation for themselves, and making their pricing reflect what they discover.

 

[dburg30]

You are correct, we are a very small company, so our cash handling 'expense' is pretty much zero. last year our credit card processing fees were about $7k. I would have much rather had everyone pay cash

 

[disneyfan55]

I wonder how Debit cards will be treated? Many are so used to doing this now. I don't use one, I do use a rewards card just for the rewards so if there will be a discount for cash I will do that and get instant rewards. The main issue will be for those online purchases. Maybe they won't charge more or just keep current prices since cash is difficult with that. I will go back to checks more often in stores at least!

 

[dburg30]

Debit cards are different. It depends on if the merchant has the pin pad (ie: pays for that service monthly ).

Over a certain $ amount they are cheaper then the % as they are usually just a fixed small amount. But they have to be run thru the pin pad. If it gets run as 'credit' it's treated the same way on processing..

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Doesn't really belong in transportation, but I doubt many merchants will do anything different, with the exception of smaller locally owned businesses that tend to deal with mostly local customer.

We use our AMEX for pretty much everything, and have stopped going to places that don't accept it. If the merchant doesn't care about my convenience, I don't care to patronize them.

 

[seashoreCM]

On average, merchants pay a higher transaction fee for debit cards when the customer presses "credit" compared to pressing "debit". There are some exceptions, however.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

Doesn't really belong in transportation, but I doubt many merchants will do anything different, with the exception of smaller locally owned businesses that tend to deal with mostly local customer.

We use our AMEX for pretty much everything, and have stopped going to places that don't accept it. If the merchant doesn't care about my convenience, I don't care to patronize them.

why wouldnt it belong in transportation? car rental companies are merchants are they not?

 

[bumbershoot]

why wouldnt it belong in transportation? car rental companies are merchants are they not?

I agree. Transportation options are one of the highest expenses in any vacation, and most of the time you *have to use* some sort of plastic to make the reservations. I think it belongs very much in the transportation forum.

 

[dburg30]

Doesn't really belong in transportation, but I doubt many merchants will do anything different, with the exception of smaller locally owned businesses that tend to deal with mostly local customer.

We use our AMEX for pretty much everything, and have stopped going to places that don't accept it. If the merchant doesn't care about my convenience, I don't care to patronize them.

Do you mind paying a 3-4% surcharge to use your card? If so I'd start taking amex again. AMEX is the most expensive card to take. 4-5% on average.

 

[kaytieeldr]

why wouldnt it belong in transportation? car rental companies are merchants are they not?

They are, true - but given that they rent, not sell; the value of their product; that credit cards are their greatly preferred method of payment; and the severe restrictions* they put on debit/cash transactions... there's no way any rental car agency is going to offer a lower rate to someone paying with cash or a debit card!!!!!

*not all-encompassing, but including proof of return transportation to one's home; cash/debit deposit greater than the estimated rental total; running a credit check when one arrives at the rental counter; refusing to rent to anyone without a credit card...

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

When I first read the title, I thought it would be about grocery bags. I thought I accidentally clicked on Budget instead of Transportation.

 

[jctwizzer]

The CC fees have always been there...And built into prices.
The publicity only changed the perception, not the practice

 

[seashoreCM]

Another place where, (starting to take hold), only credit cards are accepted (no cash) is in the airplane for food, drinks, etc.

Oh yes, another of the problems of handling cash is having to make change.

 

[Lewisc]

The question is if the costs of accepting credit cards is significantly higher then costs associated with bad checks. Either the costs of loss or the cost of verifying the check and/or insuring it. Is the cost of accepting VISA higher then the cost of setting up house accounts? Not sure how this fits in, merchants don't seem to be issuing house cards but rather branded VISA/MC/AMEX. Even cash has some cost associated with it.

This was posted in the transportation forum. Car rental agencies don't want cash. They're giving you a car worth 20-30K. $500 cash deposit doesn't really cut it. I suspect rental agencies would rather charge a cash surcharge.

Airlines are going cashless. Many airlines won't even accept cash for onboard services such as drinks, meals and in flight entertainment. Airlines aren't going to want us mailing them checks or bringing a stack of 100s to the ticket counter. Airlines might like direct wire transfers but for a variety of reasons knowledgeable passengers won't want to give up the protections given by credit card purchases.

I can see some "low end" airlines like Spirit and Ryanair trying to advertise a cash price. A price which requires going to an airport ticket counter to purchase the ticket. That would be a price which very few, if any, passengers would be able to pay. Sometimes the counter agents aren't even allowed to sell a ticket, for a flight on a later date, while they're checking in passengers for a flight. That would severely limit the number of hours a passenger would be able to purchase a ticket.

I can see room for regulation regarding which price has to be shown in ads.

Small merchants are more likely to charge more for credit cards. Gas stations. Local restaurants. Local stores. PP has it right. They don't have large costs (if any) associated with accepting cash.

 

[Inkmahm]

so is this to mean car rentals, airlines, park tickets, etc??? paying by cash saves you??

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/...?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl6|sec3_lnk1|176325

I doubt that car rentals, airlines, park tickets, etc. will every be cheaper paying cash. It really is too much of an accounting nightmare to accept cash on such a large scale.

I personally use my CC to get the reward points (VISA) or dollars back (Blue Amex). But if I get a cheaper price paying cash, I'd have no problem doing that. We have a new grocery store that opened here this weekend. They have REALLY great prices in comparison to other local stores. The disadvantage is that they take checks and debit cards but not credit cards. That's fine with me because I'm sure I'm saving much more on their prices than I'd be getting in VISA points by being able to charge. Now I just have to pay attention and make sure I keep enough $ in my checking account to cover grocery shopping in the future. I generally keep very little there since I don't use the account much.

 

[dburg30]

The CC fees have always been there...And built into prices.
The publicity only changed the perception, not the practice

Correct it has always been there, but it's amazing how many people think we dont get charged to take the cards. It's amazing that I've had a few people that thought I GOT money for taking their credit cards. Some still think you are lying to them.

 

[Mary T in PA]

Correct it has always been there, but it's amazing how many people think we dont get charged to take the cards. It's amazing that I've had a few people that thought I GOT money for taking their credit cards. Some still think you are lying to them.

So true! I'm a small merchant so I fully understand.