i love my rewards CCs, but if merchants are already taking the credit card "surcharge" fees into account on their pricing then everyone is actually losing. we're paying 3% more on products while getting back just 1-2% in rewards. the ones that truly are doubly affected are the cash payers.
Then that's not a surcharge. It's pricing. I imagine if they in any way seriously market the price increase as related to the surcharge they will get in trouble. Retailers are free to charge whatever they want, and most increase prices every few years. Maybe here trying to piggyback the surcharge issue to make it seem like a credit company issue, even though its really just them taking a price bump
The "I'm unaffected cuz I'm responsible with my spending options" thing is a nice thing to be self congratulatory about. But come on, the CC charge certainly something to show concern about. And now it can be the "well you can choose to NOT SHOP at those places".... Or you can choose to raise a stink so they don't try to get too sneaky to begin with.
Dealing with credit cards everyday multiple times a day...seeing someone have a meltdown over a 5 dollar credit card minimum is a sight to see. First it was illegal then they passed the Dodd frank act where merchants can now charge up to ten dollars. I work for a small business and I see the merchant side of the argument, but it really sucks telling someone that there is a minimum in credit cards, and we do not offer debit with no ATM. Meltdown central.
The whole percentage concept is a racket. Why does it cost more to process a $20 transaction as opposed to a $10 transaction? It should be a flat fee or a percentage up to a certain amount.
As a consumer, cash now for everything would be stupid. As an avid, but responsible CC user, I get miles, points, and cash back. At least 2%, and routinely up to 5% cash back. I haven't paid interest in over ten years. They are like interest fee loans.
In an ideal world, you pay for everything using CC that offers you rewards (eg. Discover, Capital One rewards card, Chase Freedom, Amazon Visa) etc. AND then pay off your entire balance each month. This way you pay do not pay any interest or fees, and you get a minimum of 1% (more on most) of cashback on all purchases. This is what my wife and I do.
Yes, but one question: at what point is having too many credit cards considered "cautious" to one's credit score? If at all? To a certain extent, credit cards are a pain for credit scores if one racks up considerable debt. On the other, having a credit card and using it responsibly can certainly help build good credit, no? On an unrelated note, I'm always amazed how Germany is so anti-credit card. It goes back to the post WW2 mentality of saving money, but man, for a modern country, it's extremely rare to find a place that a) takes credit cards and b) doesn't charge extra fees.
# of credit cards is not a problem. Being irresponsible with them is. Your credit scores take a hit if you have have considerable balances on them, whether you have a few or many. Having many credit cards for a long time while being below 25% your Credit limit is looked upon very favorably by credit score companies. It shows you are responsible with your credit cards and spending limit.
Except that I don't live in one of the states that forbids surcharges and as the article notes what happened in Australia was that more merchants have been gradually charging the surcharges. Something I experienced first hand when I was there last year. That, in addition to the foreign processing fee, certainly put a damper on me using my cards in Perth.
Any merchant that has a location in a forbidden state can't do it, so that takes out basically every chain store. And any merchant that accepts AMEX can't do it. Between the two, that covers the vast majority of retailers.
I think people will spend less if businesses do that. Even though I pay it off every month, I would spend less on cash only purchases or even if I write a check. I think businesses know this and just stay with rolling the cc cost in the prices.
If you support the "buy local" approach and don't shop at chain retailers, or if you don't live in an area around major retailers, still something that can make things more costly. And it will apply to rewards cards too, not like they're exempt just will be tiny less 'rewarding'. If the Australia example is 1 out 3 stores over 10 years, maybe a USA effect might be 1 of 10 or so at most. Not crippingly but noticable enough. Will probably happen so gradually wont be too noticable, like most fees, taxes and charges usually are.
I don't have a problem with giving a merchant the option to have a surcharge. Cash price or Credit card price, let the customer choose. I like the way Specs does it. The fees that the merchant pays really adds up.
California and Texas are among the 10 states exempted from this. It is to an extent, but the CC companies are legally responsible to handle cases of fraud or deadbeats. Part of the way CC transactions are seamless is that after purchase authorization, the money is sent almost immediately to the retailer. So if the card was stolen, the CC company has the eat the cost. The larger the transaction, the greater the risk. Of course, that "insurance" that plays into the overall transaciton fee isn't razor thin, so if there are less cases of fraud, the CC company pockets the difference.
