Credit card fees in UK

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smudger
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Credit card fees in UK

Post by smudger »

Seen several articles on this today on UK tv.They are not allowed to charge for a card payment. So if you are asked for an additional payment for paying by card then you can refuse. This may result in them saying they cannot accept the card, in which case you either accept their illegal charges or pay by cash.

Either way, surcharges are illegal in Uk. Don't think this will apply in Cyprus!
glang3000
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by glang3000 »

Its an EU rule, no one in a member state can charge a different price for goods for cash, credit card or debit card,I.E, you can not give a discount for cash. A very stupid law that only the UK will police.

I sell fitted kitchens and have always accepted credit cards as long as the user would pay the charges (between 1.7% and 3.6%) that we get charged, dependant on what card they use. Now I am told I have to raise all my charges so the customers that pay by B.A.C.s have to subsidise those who prefer to use a card to earn points or pay monthly.

Is this fair? I think not.
J B
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by J B »

Happy in Cyprus wrote: Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:25 am Visa/Mastercard, for which we are charged a 1.5% to 1.7% fee. In the whole scheme of things, 1.5% is neither here nor there.
Just curious really - do you take Amex and if so what is their charge to you?
J B
robf
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by robf »

Assuming that everyone should now pay for larger outlays with your credit card, rather than debit card as there are additional safeguards with a credit card should things go wrong.
glang3000
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by glang3000 »

I am surprised you get your card payments through in the next day, mine take 3 to 5 days whilst B.A.C.s payments under £8000 usually go through within one hour. I also don't know what you sell but believe you me, raising the price on £20,000 kitchens by 3% just so people can get into debt or collect card points is just unnecessary inflation.
Perhaps card company's are cheaper and quicker in Cyprus but in the UK, the ones that give points like Nectar points, charge the shop 2% extra, so charge about 3.5% in total, on kitchen appliances we often work on a margin of 5% to be competitive with the likes of John Lewis and Currys but because of their turnover they can negotiate credit card charges of around 0.5%.
Another nail in the coffin for small retailers.
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Dominic
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by Dominic »

Happy in Cyprus wrote: Tue Jan 22, 2019 6:45 pm
J B wrote: Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:55 amJust curious really - do you take Amex and if so what is their charge to you?

Funnily enough, my s-i-l reported to me the other day that a customer had paid for his fence on an Amex card. I said to him, "...but I thought we didn't take Amex cards". He assured me we (ie. JCC) did...and that was probably the first one for years.

Sorry, don't know the commission, but I suspect it will be getting on for nearly double Visa/Mastercard.
Does S-I-L mean sister in law? I ask because they appear to change gender mid sentence.
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Dominic
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by Dominic »

Weird that I assumed it was sister in law and son-in-law didn't even occur to me. I wonder why that was?


Sure Freud would have something to say about that... :)
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galexinda
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by galexinda »

My insurance company in Paphos charges for use of a credit card to pay for an insurance premium on house contents.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Credit Card payment charges
If you wish to pay any premium due by Credit Card then we will pass on the cost of the transaction made by the banking industry. At the present time the cost of these transactions is 1.70% (we reserve the right to change this cost if the charge to us increases or decreases).

We do not currently charge for payments made by Debit Card as the cost made by the banking industry is relatively small.
emgee
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by emgee »

AMEX about 7.5% commission on card use to the retailer.

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Lofos-Jan
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by Lofos-Jan »

Bank of Cyprus have just cancelled our American Express cards and have replaced them with Mastercards. I will admit it was quite difficult when we switched (they recommended them) as the number of comapanies and outlets not accepting them was quite significant. Via JCC, Synergas and Intergaz for example won't accept them nor will some local authorities for water bills. I am sure it is purely due to the high charges.

Jeanne
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Spock
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by Spock »

glang3000 wrote: Mon Jan 21, 2019 10:59 pm
I sell fitted kitchens and have always accepted credit cards as long as the user would pay the charges (between 1.7% and 3.6%) that we get charged, dependant on what card they use. Now I am told I have to raise all my charges so the customers that pay by B.A.C.s have to subsidise those who prefer to use a card to earn points or pay monthly.

Is this fair? I think not.
When I had a business in the UK, a portion of the credit card charge was recoverable VAT. The rest of the charge was allowed against tax.
This meant in reality credit cards we costing me less than 1% to accept.
Boldly going......
jeba
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by jeba »

Lofos-Jan wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:05 pm the number of comapanies and outlets not accepting them was quite significant. Via JCC, Synergas and Intergaz for example won't accept them
2 weeks ago I paid my road tax via JCC using my Amex card.
jeba
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by jeba »

Happy in Cyprus wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:22 am And for some reason, bank/internet transfers (particularly those from other countries) can take up to 4-5 days, though some come through in 24 hours.
Within the SEPA payment area (i. e. within the Eurozone) bank transfers aren´t allowed to take more than 1 business day.
jeba
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Re: Credit card fees in UK

Post by jeba »

Happy in Cyprus wrote: Sun Jan 27, 2019 6:23 pm That's interesting jeba, though many of them do.
I´ve still to experience that. When I pay my landlord from my German bank account it will be credited next day.
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