Minimum spend shops :(

[P.O.U.S.theWonderCat]

Why is paying for an item worth 89p worthy of 6 exclaimation marks? It's a very common occurence now.

And I don't understand your point about carrying cash "out of respect for independent retailers". All retailers are charged for everything they do with bank, not just independent ones, and as you point out the charges apply to everything, including means to deal with cash. Unless you are advocating using cash as means of avoiding banks?

[Sue]

Surely the whole point of contactless payments is that they are for small transactions?

[Calsug]

I suppose what Monica means is the overall cost of banking say 200 quid of say 20 transactions is much lower as it?s spread over a bigger amount than say 30 p per transaction for a debit card.

[Penguin68]

All retailers are charged for everything they do with bank, not just independent ones, and as you point out the charges apply to everything, including means to deal with cash.

The larger the commercial relationship is with a merchant, the lower the charges tend to be. Independants are thus the merchants that are likely to pay most per transaction, as they have the lowest transaction footprint with banks and card companies. The big boys have much better negotiating power.

[Calsug]

You can tell I?m not busy today... according to merchantmachine.co.uk the transaction cost is around 1.75% for a debit card. So that?s about 0.015 p for an 89p transaction. I don?t know if there are an other costs to factor in though??

Edit - ignore rubbish maths and see below...

[rendelharris]

Calsug Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> You can tell I?m not busy today... according to

> merchantmachine.co.uk the transaction cost is

> around 1.75% for a debit card. So that?s about

> 0.015 p for an 89p transaction ...

Me neither...1.75% of 89p is 1.5p, not 0.015p.

[Calsug]

You?re very correct and I was very wrong...

rendelharris Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Calsug Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > You can tell I?m not busy today... according to

> > merchantmachine.co.uk the transaction cost is

> > around 1.75% for a debit card. So that?s about

> > 0.015 p for an 89p transaction ...

>

> Me neither...1.75% of 89p is 1.5p, not 0.015p.

[Earl Aelfheah]

monica Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The most common charges we are faced with are the

> charge per transaction, its 30p per debit and 60p

> per credit.

Is that right? Seems extremely high. You might want to change who you're banking with.

[worldwiser]

Most of the new generation (usually not banks) suppliers of card terminals are charging roughly 1.7% flat on all transactions so retailers with these shouldn't care whether you spend 50p or ?50. And anyone with a terminal that has minimum fee pricing should go elsewhere or renegotiate.

[Elphinstone's Army]

uncleglen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> even worse is the common practice of leaving

> expired goods on the shelves like the newsagent in

> CPRd

do you mean the chrome yellow shop?

A few people have remarked on this aberration. - I went in one time years ago

for chocolate? and noticed this, came out empty handed.

The shop smelt, dirty, the owner? answered a civil question in an unpleasant manner and I have not been in since nor will again - yet another shop I would not be surprised or sorry to see close and surprised frankly that it endures.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Elphinstone's Army Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> uncleglen Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > even worse is the common practice of leaving

> > expired goods on the shelves like the newsagent

> in

> > CPRd

>

>

> do you mean the chrome yellow shop?

>

> A few people have remarked on this aberration. - I

> went in one time years ago

> for chocolate? and noticed this, came out empty

> handed.

> The shop smelt, dirty, the owner? answered a civil

> question in an unpleasant manner and I have not

> been in since nor will again - yet another shop I

> would not be surprised or sorry to see close and

> surprised frankly that it endures.

The guy in the 'Yellow Shop' on Crystal Palace Road is always very friendly in my experience. It's really convenient too. I would be very upset to see it close personally.

[JohnL]

I tap for everything these days - it's scary how much time in the pub shows up on my bank statements :)

There is no minimum spend that I've noticed - just a maximum one of ?30

[monica]

Hi Calsug

All merchants charge differently, your research is clearly based on the average rate, most merchant services are no longer run by banks, they are mainly independently run. A majority of the merchant services charge from end of day banking to using the telephone line, for connection to the banks. A majority of businesses will use a broadband connection, however there are shops who still use the phone line to connect.

There are a lot of hidden charges and if you want, when I have more time, I can give you a breakdown of all the charges.

The point I was trying to make re the minimum charge and the 89p is, we do have a minimum charge for a reason, to deter purchases of very small amounts.

I would never dream of using a card to buy milk, or bread or single items, I always have cash on me, I know more and more businesses are going cashless, however its just not an option for all of us.;}

Calsug Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> You can tell I?m not busy today... according to

> merchantmachine.co.uk the transaction cost is

> around 1.75% for a debit card. So that?s about

> 0.015 p for an 89p transaction. I don?t know if

> there are an other costs to factor in though??

>

>

> Edit - ignore rubbish maths and see below...

[Melbournemember]

Yes I agree! This was so annoying last week!

[Sue]

Tart on Lordship Lane have a notice up that due to a robbery they will no longer take cash at all and will only take cards (with no charge).

Not sure where this leaves people who don't have a card :(

[Robert Poste's Child]

Are there still people who genuinely don't have and can't get a card, other than perhaps recent arrivals to the country, do you think? I tend to assume you can't avoid it these days, though that said I'm always surprised by the number of people in Lidl who won't use a 'card only' till.

[Growlybear]

My closest friend has never had a credit or debit card, and she is 59. She always uses cash, or pays large bills, such as car servicing, by cheque. I've always used cards to pay for the vast majority of things, and don't generally like carrying much cash, but I would never expect a shop to accept a card payment for less than ?5.

[Pugwash]

One of our relatives is on benefit and although she has her money paid into the bank, she has been refused a card because of poor credit rating as ran up a large overdraft by paying everything by card initially.

[Applespider]

If things are really tight, it's a lot easier to keep track of cash in your purse and know exactly what you have left - rather than use a card even if the bank will give you one. Admittedly, if you're that short of cash, then cash-free coffee and lunch stops, like Tart, aren't likely to be a priority. But if supermarkets and grocers move to 'card only' tills, then that's more of a problem for those on low incomes who are trying to budget.

I do use contactless for lots of stuff these days although I often feel a bit odd doing it for things under ?10 because I'm aware of the potential charges.

[paulu1973]

Most banks do visa debit or mastercard debit cards which don't require a credit rating...

[JohnL]

Contactless is the future IMHO and cash will be used less and less.

There maybe small retail charges - but retailers won't have to worry about cash on the premises, taking it to the bank or fake notes.