On a normal day, how do you pay for items?

[eliza61]

I know a lot of people are upset about the new fees for debit transactions but personally I don't mind; for a long time now the status quo has been high fees for retailers which in turn means higher prices for all of us, whether we're using credit/debit or not, and as more and more people are going cashless and using their card even for a pack of gum or bottle of soda those fees really add up. And Visa/Mastercard rules make it very difficult for retailers to manage/minimize those fees, because they can't set minimums for card use or pass the fees along specifically to those who use plastic. The limit on processing fees and the new charges banks are instituting in response are doing just that - shifting some of the fees from the retailer to the customers who want the convenience of debit card access to their funds.

Hey Colleen, (or anyone).

I've heard that supposedly visa/mastercard makes it difficult to set minimums but I gotta tell you in NYC all over the place you see signs that say $25.00 limit on charge cards. My family used to own a restaurant and we had a $15.00 limit.
Is this some thing that is just not enforced? Every dollar store in my area has a sign on the front register saying $10.00 minumum on charges.
And every gas station has one price cash and one price credit?

I've heard this fact before and just wanted to know how so many retailers get around it? Is it one of those things where most people don't know about it so they don't question it.

I did find this article on line but I can't tell how old it is.

A merchant located in the U.S. region or a territory or possession of the United States in another region may set a minimum transaction amount to accept a MasterCard® card that accesses a credit account, as long as the minimum transaction amount does not exceed USD 10 (or any higher amount established by the Federal Reserve Board by regulation) and does not differentiate between issuers, or between MasterCard and other acceptance brands.

http://www.mastercard.com/us/merchant/support/minmax_trans_amts.html

 

[QVCshopper]

We charge everything. I carry $1.06 usually, to cover a one dollar item plus tax. But, we get 2% on our credit card into a 529 plan for our kids. It's an easy way to save extra for college. We never use the debit card, just ATM once in a while.

 

[marie1203]

I pay everything with credit cards to get the rewards. Then every Monday I go in and pay the full balance.

 

[Colleen27]

Hey Colleen, (or anyone).

I've heard that supposedly visa/mastercard makes it difficult to set minimums but I gotta tell you in NYC all over the place you see signs that say $25.00 limit on charge cards. My family used to own a restaurant and we had a $15.00 limit.
Is this some thing that is just not enforced? Every dollar store in my area has a sign on the front register saying $10.00 minumum on charges.
And every gas station has one price cash and one price credit?

I've heard this fact before and just wanted to know how so many retailers get around it?

Dodd-Frank allowed for the setting of $10 minimums on credit transactions only (debit cards are not included so presumably are still subject to no-minimums rules). Your link is the current state of things, in light of the new regulations. Prior to that, both Mastercard and Visa prohibited minimum transaction limits, though it largely goes unenforced unless someone reports the retailer. I do know one small business owner who was threatened with the loss of his merchant account with Visa because he had a $5 minimum for credit & debit transactions, but I know others who have gotten away with it for years without issue.

As far as gas stations go, they are within the rules to offer a cash discount. They can't charge a credit surcharge but can offer a lower price for cash customers, which seems like semantics to me but is officially permitted by Visa and MC merchant agreements.

This is a good pre-Dodd-Frank overview of the rules: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/merchants-who-violate-credit-card-terms-1275.php

 

[kathyell]

I voted in the poll (currently a CC user, pay off the bill in full every month, done for rewards maxing and convenience of not having to carry cash) but I would also like to add that I will adjust away from any method of payment that costs me extra money. I used to use my debit card a lot but our bank has a 25 cent fee every time you enter your PIN during payment, so I changed to a CC user and occasional cash user.

If my CC starts to charge a fee or if ever I feel we will get into a situation where we might overspend and not be able to pay off the bill in full at the end of the month, I will go cash only. I'm not so loyal to one method or another that I feel it is worth paying extra for.

 

[disneychic2]

We use cash for groceries and clothing etc. and a cc for gas and online purchases. We tend to spend less using cash. I think what's behind the fee for debit cards is the fact that many people will stop using them in favor of a cc and there's always the possibility for interest if the cc doesn't get paid. After all, the banks don't make money on debit cards...

 

[sukhakuli]

I never carry cash. I was raised to only carry the amount of cash that you are OK with losing if you get mugged or your purse gets snatched, so I never have any cash.

For small purchases, I use my debit card, like if it is less than 20 bucks. For anything else, I use my credit card because I get a Gymboree reward.

 

[Katy Belle]

We use a CC for everything in order to max out our rewards. Sometimes I might have the same 20 dollar bill in my wallet for a week or two. We always pay off the bill each month.

This is us too.

 

[beansmom]

We use a CC for everything in order to max out our rewards. Sometimes I might have the same 20 dollar bill in my wallet for a week or two. We always pay off the bill each month.

us, too...our FF miles have taken us to Europe twice in the last 3 yrs and we currently have enough for another trip...if only we had the time! We pay them off each month (most of the time) so it doesn't really 'cost' us anything to use the cc.

 

[scrapquitler]

I mostly use my credit cards. Pretty much anything over $10 goes on a credit card (which gets paid off in full every month, so I never pay interest charges). The only places I pay cash are those that don't take credit cards or those with a minimum charge (which I think are technically not allowed).

I don't even HAVE a debit card. I have a regular plain old ATM card. The strip recently got scratched and I needed a new one, but the bank sent me a Debit Card with a Mastercard logo on it, and I took it back to them and told them I don't want it, get me an ATM card. So they did.

 

[bettymae1121]

CC for everything we can get away with, and pay it off in full monthly so no interest. I used to earn United miles and earned thousands in free airfare and upgrades in the last ten years. But I've just now switched to the Starwood (Sheraton/Westin) Hotel card by Amex. I get free airfare through my job and upgrades are harder to get, so I figured free hotel would be a better way to go. The way we spend we should earn a free 7 night stay in either DL (Sheraton Anaheim) or WDW (Dolphin) every two years or so, which is about how often we do Disney.

A week of hotel every two years for a $65 annual fee sounds like a deal to me!

 

[momto2girls]

We use a CC for everything in order to max out our rewards. Sometimes I might have the same 20 dollar bill in my wallet for a week or two. We always pay off the bill each month.

This is what we do as well.

 

[JandJ]

We use a CC for everything in order to max out our rewards. Sometimes I might have the same 20 dollar bill in my wallet for a week or two. We always pay off the bill each month.

Us, too. We'll get cash back (between 2% and 5%) on every purchase, and since we don't pay any interest and there's no annual fee for the card, that is free money

 

[Pakey]

A rewards credit card for everything.

 

[mom2alix]

I rarely have cash. Use the CC for everything and pay it off online every month. I never got into the debit card habit because I like how well the cc company covers me if there's any issue. We once had a hotel charge us twice. There was some kind of computer glitch and they couldn't find the second charge in their system and couldn't correct it on their end. Amex credited my account immediately and got the problem ironed out. If I had used a debit card I would have been out the money until the problem was fixed. We have the Costco Amex so no annual fee and they send me a check every year.

I do treat the CC like a checkbook in that I regularly download transactions and keep track of what we've spent so that we stay within budget. It takes discipline.

 

[lisaross]

i try to use cash...but certain things like gas i use the credit card. we use cash for restaurants and food shopping

This is a totally unscientific poll. Based on the news that Wells fargo is testing a new "debit card" fee and I'm a cynic I believe banks are like airline companies, once one institutes a "fee" it's only a matter of time before the rest of the herd follow suit.

So how do you pay for your normal every day life? Do you carry cash? Do you mainly use your debit card? do you use mainly your credit cards?

I use my debit card for just about every thing. rarely do I have more than 10 bucks in my pocket.

 

[Swimalie]

I don't even HAVE a debit card. I have a regular plain old ATM card. The strip recently got scratched and I needed a new one, but the bank sent me a Debit Card with a Mastercard logo on it, and I took it back to them and told them I don't want it, get me an ATM card. So they did.

 

[lucyem]

We do not have debit cards. Had more then one bad experience with banks and stolen debit card numbers. We use either cash or disney visa. We pay off the visa each month.

 

[ilovepete]

We use our Disney Visa for EVERYTHING and then pay it off at the end of each month, never carrying a balance.

 

[disny_luvr]

I use my debit card for everything, but am thinking of using cash more. We used to bank with Wachovia until it became Wells Fargo. Wachovia had this program called Way2Save that moved one dollar from your checking account to a savings account everytime you swiped your debit card. I loved it and saved a lot of money because I swiped my debit card so often. I think this program carried over to Wells Fargo, but I can't remember since we no longer bank with them. Anyway, our new bank doesn't have any type of program like this. Recently, I've been making a weekly withdrawal from our bank's ATM and using cash for many of our purchases (I still use our debit card often though). I don't know why I made the switch. I think I like having the cash and it helps keep my spending in-check. I have also been adding a lot of change to our change jar for our upcoming Disney trip, and I like that. : We never use our credit card. I, too, have the Disney Visa and keep on thinking I should be using it for bills and purchases to "beef up" our rewards points, but worry I won't be disciplined enough to pay it off. We don't carry any credit card debt and I want to keep it that way.