4 ms·

This practise is illegal in the UK and that's probably why they decided to this instead

gambiting 5y ago
It's illegal everywhere in the EU as well. If a merchant accepts debit/credit cards then they are not allowed to charge extra for using them.
- ericyan 5y ago
  Yeah, the catch is "if a merchant accepts..." I live in the Netherlands and biggest supermarket chain here, Albert Heijn, is strictly Mastro-only. This is not a problem for the locals, but you will find angry reviews left by tourists on pretty much every ah branch in Amsterdam on Google Maps.
  - gambiting 5y ago
    Sure, and in theory that should be the prime example of "free market" at work - merchant doesn't want to accept visa/mastercard? They will lose customers then, if that's acceptable to them then that's their choice.
    - caf 5y ago
      Same if they pass on the card costs to the customers though - card user doesn't want to pay the true cost of using their card, they can choose to shop elsewhere.
    - ericyan 5y ago
      This would make sense if (and only if) all other things are equal. In reality it is slightly more complicated than that. The second-largest chain, Jumbo, will happily accept my AMEX credit card. In many cases, the groceries are even (slightly) cheaper there. That's why it has been my preferred place to do the groceries for years. But I find my self goes to ah much more often than Jumbo recently, simply because I moved and there is one right across the street.
  - Blackstone4 5y ago
    I was there the other week and they refused my work Amex but accepted my personal MasterCard credit card. Not sure your statement is accurate.
    - ericyan 5y ago
      As a general rule, ah (and bol.com) do not accept credit cards (or debit cards that need to go through the credit card network). This can be independently verified on Google Maps if you look for those 1-star reviews. There are a small handful ah branches (see below) in tourist spots that does accept credit cards. In all other places, you should see posters apparently made by the staff that puts red crosses on Visa, MasterCard and AMEX logos near the entrance and/or the checkout kassa. From https://www.ah.nl/klantenservice/onze-winkels/zelfscannen-en-betalen https://www.ah.nl/klantenservice/onze-winkels/zelfscannen-en... (in Dutch): > In sommige winkels kan je met je creditcard of buitenlandse pre-paid debetkaart betalen: de winkels op Schiphol, veel stationswinkels, de winkel achter het paleis op de Dam in Amsterdam en de winkel aan de Weteringschans in Amsterdam. Bij alle andere winkels kan dit niet.
      - rescbr 5y ago
        Once I had an interesting experience at AH when I used my combined debit/credit card. It wasn't a branch that accepted credit cards (it was full of crossed off card logos), the clerk saw my foreign card with Mastercard logo and said that wouldn't work but I insisted by showing it had a Maestro logo on the back. Reluctantly they said OK, go ahead and for everyone's surprise, it worked. The transaction ended showing up on my credit card statement, and to this day I really don't know what happened. I know that international withdrawals (that should use Maestro network) appear on my checking account. Who knows...
        ericyan 5y ago
        If I have to guess, it probably have something to do with the the migration to MasterCard Debit from Maestro.
  - KptMarchewa 5y ago
    That doesn't make sense with 0.3% EU costs.
    - kuschku 5y ago
      It does make sense because Girocard and some variations of Maestro only charge 0.125%
      - andrewshadura 5y ago
        Well, Maestro is going away next year or so, so not for long.
      - KptMarchewa 5y ago
        Are foreigners only 0.175% clients?
- Symbiote 5y ago
  I see this repeated often, but it's not unusual in Denmark for credit cards, especially corporate cards, to have an extra fee applied. Example in English: https://www.flysas.com/en/help-and-contact/faq/booking/why-do-i-get-a-credit-card-fee-when-paying-with-my-corporate-liability-card/ https://www.flysas.com/en/help-and-contact/faq/booking/why-d... And in Danish: https://www.tivoli.dk/da/om/vilkaar-og-betingelser/betalingsgebyr https://www.tivoli.dk/da/om/vilkaar-og-betingelser/betalings... (or without the reasoning in English: https://www.tivoligardens.com/en/om/vilkaar-og-betingelser/betalingsgebyr https://www.tivoligardens.com/en/om/vilkaar-og-betingelser/b... )
  - gambiting 5y ago
    I had a quick look at the rules here in UK, and yes, apparently you can still be charged, but only for using business/corporate credit cards, not otherwise: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/borrowing-money/credit-cards/the-costs-and-charges-of-credit-cards/ https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/borrowing-m...
mFixman 5y ago
The Australian practice seems fair though. If you force cash and credit card transactions to be the same price then the extra 0.5% is charged to everyone, and outside of extreme cases like this post there is little incentive for credit card operators to lower their fee.
- maccard 5y ago
  Why is that only applied to credit card transactions, and not transactions by debit card (which banks also charge for) or for handling cash?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

It's illegal everywhere in the EU as well. If a merchant accepts debit/credit cards then they are not allowed to charge extra for using them.

ericyan 5y ago
Yeah, the catch is "if a merchant accepts..." I live in the Netherlands and biggest supermarket chain here, Albert Heijn, is strictly Mastro-only. This is not a problem for the locals, but you will find angry reviews left by tourists on pretty much every ah branch in Amsterdam on Google Maps.
- gambiting 5y ago
  Sure, and in theory that should be the prime example of "free market" at work - merchant doesn't want to accept visa/mastercard? They will lose customers then, if that's acceptable to them then that's their choice.
  - caf 5y ago
    Same if they pass on the card costs to the customers though - card user doesn't want to pay the true cost of using their card, they can choose to shop elsewhere.
  - ericyan 5y ago
    This would make sense if (and only if) all other things are equal. In reality it is slightly more complicated than that. The second-largest chain, Jumbo, will happily accept my AMEX credit card. In many cases, the groceries are even (slightly) cheaper there. That's why it has been my preferred place to do the groceries for years. But I find my self goes to ah much more often than Jumbo recently, simply because I moved and there is one right across the street.
- Blackstone4 5y ago
  I was there the other week and they refused my work Amex but accepted my personal MasterCard credit card. Not sure your statement is accurate.
  - ericyan 5y ago
    As a general rule, ah (and bol.com) do not accept credit cards (or debit cards that need to go through the credit card network). This can be independently verified on Google Maps if you look for those 1-star reviews. There are a small handful ah branches (see below) in tourist spots that does accept credit cards. In all other places, you should see posters apparently made by the staff that puts red crosses on Visa, MasterCard and AMEX logos near the entrance and/or the checkout kassa. From https://www.ah.nl/klantenservice/onze-winkels/zelfscannen-en-betalen https://www.ah.nl/klantenservice/onze-winkels/zelfscannen-en... (in Dutch): > In sommige winkels kan je met je creditcard of buitenlandse pre-paid debetkaart betalen: de winkels op Schiphol, veel stationswinkels, de winkel achter het paleis op de Dam in Amsterdam en de winkel aan de Weteringschans in Amsterdam. Bij alle andere winkels kan dit niet.
    - rescbr 5y ago
      Once I had an interesting experience at AH when I used my combined debit/credit card. It wasn't a branch that accepted credit cards (it was full of crossed off card logos), the clerk saw my foreign card with Mastercard logo and said that wouldn't work but I insisted by showing it had a Maestro logo on the back. Reluctantly they said OK, go ahead and for everyone's surprise, it worked. The transaction ended showing up on my credit card statement, and to this day I really don't know what happened. I know that international withdrawals (that should use Maestro network) appear on my checking account. Who knows...
      - ericyan 5y ago
        If I have to guess, it probably have something to do with the the migration to MasterCard Debit from Maestro.
- KptMarchewa 5y ago
  That doesn't make sense with 0.3% EU costs.
  - kuschku 5y ago
    It does make sense because Girocard and some variations of Maestro only charge 0.125%
    - andrewshadura 5y ago
      Well, Maestro is going away next year or so, so not for long.
    - KptMarchewa 5y ago
      Are foreigners only 0.175% clients?
Symbiote 5y ago
I see this repeated often, but it's not unusual in Denmark for credit cards, especially corporate cards, to have an extra fee applied. Example in English: https://www.flysas.com/en/help-and-contact/faq/booking/why-do-i-get-a-credit-card-fee-when-paying-with-my-corporate-liability-card/ https://www.flysas.com/en/help-and-contact/faq/booking/why-d... And in Danish: https://www.tivoli.dk/da/om/vilkaar-og-betingelser/betalingsgebyr https://www.tivoli.dk/da/om/vilkaar-og-betingelser/betalings... (or without the reasoning in English: https://www.tivoligardens.com/en/om/vilkaar-og-betingelser/betalingsgebyr https://www.tivoligardens.com/en/om/vilkaar-og-betingelser/b... )
- gambiting 5y ago
  I had a quick look at the rules here in UK, and yes, apparently you can still be charged, but only for using business/corporate credit cards, not otherwise: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/borrowing-money/credit-cards/the-costs-and-charges-of-credit-cards/ https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/borrowing-m...

mFixman 5y ago

The Australian practice seems fair though. If you force cash and credit card transactions to be the same price then the extra 0.5% is charged to everyone, and outside of extreme cases like this post there is little incentive for credit card operators to lower their fee.

maccard 5y ago
Why is that only applied to credit card transactions, and not transactions by debit card (which banks also charge for) or for handling cash?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]