4 ms·

> If a merchant wanted to, it would be trivial for them to give you a 3% discount for paying with debit. I don't believe that a merchant is allowed to do this?

• csomar 3y ago
  > I don't believe that a merchant is allowed to do this? Probably very dependent on your deal with credit card processors but my understanding is that the default contract between a merchant and a credit card processor stipulates that you are not allowed to offer discounts to not use credit cards differently. I think this was in the past or no longer enforced. I lost count now of the stores that will charge you a 2-3% fee for paying with a card.
  • hackernewds 3y ago
    if credit card processors started enforcing this rule of the contract, would they be at risk of legal trouble?
    • csomar 3y ago
      I think some countries are starting to make it this illegal (I think Australia and some in the EU?). So maybe that's why credit card companies are turning a blind eye.
  • sgerenser 3y ago
    In the U.S. credit card surchages are no longer banned by the credit card processors due to a settlement between retailers and Visa/Mastercard in 2013: https://smartpay.gsa.gov/content/surcharges https://smartpay.gsa.gov/content/surcharges
• lotsofpulp 3y ago
  > I don't believe that a merchant is allowed to do this? A federal law was passed over 10 years ago allowing this. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/new-rules-electronic-payments-lower-costs-retailers https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/new-rules-el... > A PCN cannot stop you from offering your customers a discount or another incentive for using a certain method of payment, as long as you offer it to all your customers and disclose the offer clearly and conspicuously. For example, you can offer your customers a discount or a coupon if they pay with cash or a debit card rather than a credit card.
  • HDThoreaun 3y ago
    Amex sued the government about this though. Not sure the outcome but it is more complicated than “government banned banning credit card fees”
    • lotsofpulp 3y ago
      No, they did not. It was about merchant agreements prohibiting different surcharges for different PCNs, i.e. charging more for AmEx than for Visa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_v._American_Express_Co https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_v._American_Express_Co. The FTC site is pretty clear, and they are the regulator.
  • nulbyte 3y ago
    Nothing prevented merchants from offering a cash discount. Terms used to prevent merchants from adding a surcharge solely because they were paying with a credit card. A class action lawsuit was filed, and the networks settled by allowing merchants to charge a fee only up to what they actually paid to process the charge if they inform the networks first. I gather most merchants don't inform the networks. And when they do charge surcharges, the fee they charge is obviously higher than the payment actually costs them.