is it illegal?

Question

i have read that businesss that wil not accept a credit card unless you spend a minumun amount of like 10 dollars. i have also read that this is against the law or something similar. recently i went to a gas station and tried to use my card for a coffee and i snack they told me i had to spend 3.00 at least. my bill was 2.97. i had three dollars but it was for my dinner at work. so i gave my cash and skipped dinner. not a biggie but isnt this why we have these cards for convenience???? whats the deal

it was my debit card i was using .....sorry i just call it a credit card

Answer 1

ive heard that the contract major credit card companies make businesses sign dont permit them to force you to spend a certain amount of money, so its not really against the law but it supposedly breaches the contract of the credit card company so they arent supposed to be able to enforce it (im not sure if this is true though, like i said this is what ive heard from others). but the cashier probably doesnt know that and if they do, they dont really give a ****. business do that because it costs them 10-30 cents as a fee when you use your credit card, so managment gets pissed when you charge $1 or 2 on it because then they dont make any money or lose money

Answer 2

I don't know the legality issues involved here, but I would guess that as a business owner has the right to determine which credit cards it accepts (if any) then they can determine minimum limits. Additionally, a business pays a fee everytime a credit card is used. So if it is for a small amount, they may be paying more for processing than the profit on the sale.

Answer 3

It is not illegal, but it is a violation of the terms of all major credit card issuers.

The merchant agrees to take credit cards as a convenience to the consumer and the merchant, and the MERCHANT agrees to pay a small percentage for this convenience.

This is why some retailers do not accept certain cards (AmEx and Discover) that charge higher percentages.

If a merchant accepts cards, though, it is technically a violation of the card issuer's terms of service to set a minimum purchase or charge the percentage back to the customer.

Answer 4

Each credit card transaction has a fee....Business owners do not want to pay additional fees for small purchases.
Business owners offer payment options to their customersas a convience---> on their own terms.

A cash back option is another item offered for the customers convience...yet some stores will not "allow" cash back until after "noon" as they choose to not depleat their cash from the cashiers until the store has been open for a while aand received extra cash from sales. Their choice...keeping extra cash may cost the business extra or overtime pay ..as the cash must be doublechecked after the store closes..more cash on hand means more time counting...

Answer 5

felix,

It's not illegal for businesses to impose minimum purchase restrictions on credit/debit card purchases. You figure the businesses don't HAVE to accept them at all...they do simply for the convenience of the customer.

That convenience comes at a price, however...for the business. Most businesses are charged up to 5% of the total of purchases. When you add that to a day's worth of receipts, it really adds up. So, businesses (especially convenience stores/gas stations) impose some sort of minimum purchase in order to mitigate the charges. A lot of those places have ATMs in store in order to get the customer to pay the ATM charge instead of the store having to give up the 5%.

Answer 6

it's legal to refuse servise to anyone for any reason as long as they are not discriminating against you, as an example, if you are not wearing a shirt or shoes and it is posted that you have to be, a person is not required to serve you. the reason that most places have a minimum purchase if you are using a credit card is because even though you dont get charges for using your credit card, the busness does. i think it is about 2 cents but when they are only making a few cents off of you its inconvient to serve you.

Answer 7

The companies that allow you to use a credit card to make purchases are billed every time a customer uses their card there, so really small purchases don't justify that charge.

Answer 8

No, it is not illegal. Businesses have to pay a fee to the card companies every time a card is used. Many businesses require a significant purchase before they will incur this fee.

Answer 9

I don't know the legality of it, but you should stop using the credit cards. The purpose of issuing credit cards isn't for your convenience. The purpose is for you to run up debt on which you are forced to make payments. Your debt then becomes the income for executives and investors of banks and finance companies. Don't be a chump!

Answer 10

the difference is debit and credit..................with your debit card it comes out your account and you have to have the funds....with the Credit card then you dont actually have to have the money in there,. Then with the smaller places they get charged MORE to be able to offer this to the customer [you].....does not seem fair but that's how it was explained to me....................

so I dont think it is illegal, just a way of them offsetting the costs they are being charged

Regards