I went to the store near my house and they told me that the because my total was $4.48, they couldn't use my debit card, cash only. But if I was willing to purchase more items then they could run my card.
2007-09-22 03:15:42 · 9 answers · asked by blondiemoseley 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
It is not illegal to set a Minimum or maximum purchase but in the U.S. it does violate MasterCard or Visa policy.
MasterCard and Visa requires that merchants have
No Minimum Purchase requirements
No Maximum purchase requirements
No Surcharge
No ID required (Except California)
This also applies to debit cards that are ran through the Maestro or Visa plus/interlink network.
Merchant cost
Credit Card signature transaction cost the most.
Debit Card signature transaction cost a bit less.
Debit card pin transaction is the cheapest.
However, if the merchant only takes pin based debit cards.
They can require ID, Set surcharges, Set Minimum or maximum purchase limits as long as it does not go through the maestro or visa interlink/plus network.
Side note-Pay at the pump and some self serve terminal limits are set by the Credit card/Merchant processor not the merchants. Which is allowed.
You do not report merchant violations to CC bureau. You report them to Visa or Mastercard.
2007-09-23 10:23:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I know for a fact the correct laws governing this in the U.S. I owned a small store and had a major credit card company install a credit card machine. It was, of course to accept payment from my customers. When the lady from the cc company went over the legal aspects of owning and operating a cc machine, there can be NO minimum to allow for a customer to use this service. The store may suggest a minimum purchase, but is 100% illegal for them to set a minimum of purchase price. If you have a problem with a store, and you report them the the cc bureau, the store, in turn will get a fine, and/or get their cc machine taken out of their store.
2007-09-22 11:21:33 · answer #2 · answered by Jill S 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is a very outdated practice. I'm quite frankly very surprised that they wouldn't process you debit card, for debit purchases, a store gets charged very little, usually 25 cents. For credit cards, lots of times they are charged 2-3%. I would think, to maintain a good rapport with repeat customers, that they'd just skip being that stingy.
2007-09-23 06:06:20 · answer #3 · answered by paperdoll198 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everytime they accept a card they have to pay the bank a certain percentage. So a lot of stores will have a $5 or $10 dollar minimum. It is perfectly legal and not a scam to get you to buy more.
2007-09-22 03:40:26 · answer #4 · answered by jackson 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sure they can set payment policies, no checks, checks OK, no 100 dollar bills, etc.
They get charged a fee. So they want to "train" those making small purchases to bring cash.
2007-09-22 03:46:44 · answer #5 · answered by Gatsby216 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
That's against their credit card company contracts.
2007-09-25 04:39:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes becuase they get charged fees
2007-09-22 03:43:41 · answer #7 · answered by Bob D 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
YES... it that is their store policy they can tell you they won't accept your purchase.
2007-09-22 03:23:06 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yup, it's up to them.
2007-09-22 08:18:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋