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Yes! Visa/Signature/Infinite have different fee schedules, by a large margin. I was once at a smaller restaurant and they didn't want to take my Amex for fear

Yes! Visa/Signature/Infinite have different fee schedules, by a large margin. I was once at a smaller restaurant and they didn't want to take my Amex for fear of fees, little did they know my Visa Infinite had an even higher swipe fee.

mehrdadn 8y ago
Are you sure it was "fear of fees" rather than "not having a contract with AmEx"? I would assume Visa's agreements wouldn't let them just refuse your Infinite, since it would defeat the point of the card if they could just refuse the high-fee ones. (Just a guess; I don't know how it works.)
- adrr 8y ago
  Merchants do discriminate against card types. Some merchants will take Visa debit and not any other visa cards. Some will charge extra like Venmo and Verizon if you use anything but a Visa Debit. Some subscription merchants won't let you use non-reloadable prepaid card especially if they offer a low amount trial and its also against the merchant agreement to charge a non-reloadable prepaid card with the recurring flag which subscription merchants set to get better success rate on auths.
  - mehrdadn 8y ago
    Debit cards and credit cards are obviously different beasts though. You might as well be comparing cash against credit cards. Nobody expects them to be treated equally. The question was, can/do merchants discriminate against different types of credit cards from the same network (such as regular vs. Signature Rewards)?
    - adrr 8y ago
      There is debit, prepaid, prepaid non-reloadable, business credit, business debit, government/purchasing, payroll, credit cards(gold, signature,infinite) in the US. Add international and there's a lot more like Electron(travel debit). It even gets more complicated because debit can be broken down to durbin and non durbin. You can actually get debit cards that give you rewards that charge at credit card level interchange rates. If you're talking credit cards, I don't know anyone that discriminates against the different types but it is very possible because you can get that info from the PAN.
      - mehrdadn 8y ago
        > If you're talking credit cards Yes > I don't know anyone that discriminates against the different types but it is very possible because you can get that info from the PAN. Yes, this was my question, i.e. I'm wondering if merchants can be charged different rates for the same kind of card (e.g. for Visa signature credit cards coming from different issuers or having different perks) consistent with contracts/laws/other practicalities, not just from a strictly technical standpoint. (Any what the relevant reasons might be.)

mehrdadn 8y ago

Are you sure it was "fear of fees" rather than "not having a contract with AmEx"? I would assume Visa's agreements wouldn't let them just refuse your Infinite, since it would defeat the point of the card if they could just refuse the high-fee ones. (Just a guess; I don't know how it works.)

adrr 8y ago
Merchants do discriminate against card types. Some merchants will take Visa debit and not any other visa cards. Some will charge extra like Venmo and Verizon if you use anything but a Visa Debit. Some subscription merchants won't let you use non-reloadable prepaid card especially if they offer a low amount trial and its also against the merchant agreement to charge a non-reloadable prepaid card with the recurring flag which subscription merchants set to get better success rate on auths.
- mehrdadn 8y ago
  Debit cards and credit cards are obviously different beasts though. You might as well be comparing cash against credit cards. Nobody expects them to be treated equally. The question was, can/do merchants discriminate against different types of credit cards from the same network (such as regular vs. Signature Rewards)?
  - adrr 8y ago
    There is debit, prepaid, prepaid non-reloadable, business credit, business debit, government/purchasing, payroll, credit cards(gold, signature,infinite) in the US. Add international and there's a lot more like Electron(travel debit). It even gets more complicated because debit can be broken down to durbin and non durbin. You can actually get debit cards that give you rewards that charge at credit card level interchange rates. If you're talking credit cards, I don't know anyone that discriminates against the different types but it is very possible because you can get that info from the PAN.
    - mehrdadn 8y ago
      > If you're talking credit cards Yes > I don't know anyone that discriminates against the different types but it is very possible because you can get that info from the PAN. Yes, this was my question, i.e. I'm wondering if merchants can be charged different rates for the same kind of card (e.g. for Visa signature credit cards coming from different issuers or having different perks) consistent with contracts/laws/other practicalities, not just from a strictly technical standpoint. (Any what the relevant reasons might be.)