4 ms·

Don’t Visa/MC frown on pushing CC fees on to consumers? And why now? Is it simply a cash grab or did their payment processor ask Patreon to change their tune?

neaden 9y ago
It looks like they are charging a flat fee to everyone regardless of how they pay. I think the CC companies tend to get mad if you charge a fee to people paying credit at stores where paying by check or cash is an option. IIRC you can also get around it by having a cash "discount".
kelnos 9y ago
I believe the general rule is that merchants can't charge customers more for CC payments than they do for cash payments. I assume Patreon doesn't take cash payments, so there's no issue there.
- cortesoft 9y ago
  That used to be the case, but it certainly isn't anymore. 95% of gas stations in Los Angeles have a separate, lower, price per gallon for cash.
  - floatingatoll 9y ago
    Providing discounts for cash, as gas stations do, was legal prior to 2013 (and remains legal to this day). In 2013, charging customers a clearly-notified fee for accepting credit cards was authorized for all merchants; most simply choose not to.
    - chimeracoder 9y ago
      > In 2013, charging customers a clearly-notified fee for accepting credit cards was authorized for all merchants; most simply choose not to. The federal ban on charging fees was lifted, but many states (including New York and California) also still outlaw this at the state level. In addition, merchant agreements often prohibit it - for example, merchants that take American Express cannot charge fees for any transactions, even the ones that run on Visa or Mastercard.
    - fineline 9y ago
      In Australia I get charged separate CC fees when booking flight tickets, concert tickets, many filling stations, some food / hospitality businesses, etc. Surprised that's not normal in the US.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
mikeash 9y ago
I believe they frown on advertising different prices for different methods of payment. If this fee is applied to all transactions regardless of the payment method used (which appears to be the case) then the card companies won't care.
- zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
  In other words: They frown on competing. Who would have thought?

neaden 9y ago

It looks like they are charging a flat fee to everyone regardless of how they pay. I think the CC companies tend to get mad if you charge a fee to people paying credit at stores where paying by check or cash is an option. IIRC you can also get around it by having a cash "discount".

kelnos 9y ago

I believe the general rule is that merchants can't charge customers more for CC payments than they do for cash payments. I assume Patreon doesn't take cash payments, so there's no issue there.

cortesoft 9y ago
That used to be the case, but it certainly isn't anymore. 95% of gas stations in Los Angeles have a separate, lower, price per gallon for cash.
- floatingatoll 9y ago
  Providing discounts for cash, as gas stations do, was legal prior to 2013 (and remains legal to this day). In 2013, charging customers a clearly-notified fee for accepting credit cards was authorized for all merchants; most simply choose not to.
  - chimeracoder 9y ago
    > In 2013, charging customers a clearly-notified fee for accepting credit cards was authorized for all merchants; most simply choose not to. The federal ban on charging fees was lifted, but many states (including New York and California) also still outlaw this at the state level. In addition, merchant agreements often prohibit it - for example, merchants that take American Express cannot charge fees for any transactions, even the ones that run on Visa or Mastercard.
  - fineline 9y ago
    In Australia I get charged separate CC fees when booking flight tickets, concert tickets, many filling stations, some food / hospitality businesses, etc. Surprised that's not normal in the US.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

mikeash 9y ago

I believe they frown on advertising different prices for different methods of payment. If this fee is applied to all transactions regardless of the payment method used (which appears to be the case) then the card companies won't care.

zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
In other words: They frown on competing. Who would have thought?