what are the fines for merchants breaking agreement rules from Visa or Mastercard?

[dionx]

i tried to make a purchase with a visa credit card and the store wanted to impose a $1.00 fee for not meeting their minimum credit card purchase. they say their store policy supercedes Visa/Mastercard agreement but when i called Visa, they said that was false. so does anyone know how much the store gets fined?

 

[EvilPaper]

They can have their merchant account taken away eventually.


Edit: Also, the best way to report an issue like this is to contact YOUR bank (who issued the card) and report the information.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Anyone who knows isn't going to tell you over an internet forum. Such things are kept confidential because the CC companies really don't want anyone to know about them. Just like they don't want people to know how much they charge merchants to use their services. If CC companies never collected interest again they would still get a good amount of money just from the fees they charge retailers.

ZV

 

[jpeyton]

2-3% x Trillions of dollars = $$$$$$ For CC companies

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: EvilPaper
They can have their merchant account taken away eventually.

Yup, they might not be fined, they can just easily loose their merchant account.

 

[dionx]

i had already reported it to my bank and visa. they filed a report. i just want the store merchant to eat it in fees over a $1 issue.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Why not just use a debit card and be done with it?

ZV

 

[dionx]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Anyone who knows isn't going to tell you over an internet forum. Such things are kept confidential because the CC companies really don't want anyone to know about them. Just like they don't want people to know how much they charge merchants to use their services. If CC companies never collected interest again they would still get a good amount of money just from the fees they charge retailers.

ZV

i think visa and mastercard charge 3% fees to the merchant and amex charges 6%. i'm not too confident on those figures and the fees may be tiered depending on how much was spent. i do know that amex charges higher, thats why amex isnt as widely accepted as visa/mastercard

 

[dionx]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Why not just use a debit card and be done with it?

ZV

with debit, i don't earn rewards points and its harder to dispute charges. i pay off my bills in full, but i like the idea of deferred debit card when using my credit card. i did have cash on hand, but i hate change in coins and again i dont earn rewards points.

 

[Kenazo]

Is there any kind of list of these rules? For example in different countries I know it is more common to charge for using a CC. Does it vary by country?

 

[EvilPaper]

Originally posted by: dionx

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Anyone who knows isn't going to tell you over an internet forum. Such things are kept confidential because the CC companies really don't want anyone to know about them. Just like they don't want people to know how much they charge merchants to use their services. If CC companies never collected interest again they would still get a good amount of money just from the fees they charge retailers.

ZV

i think visa and mastercard charge 3% fees to the merchant and amex charges 6%. i'm not too confident on those figures and the fees may be tiered depending on how much was spent. i do know that amex charges higher, thats why amex isnt as widely accepted as visa/mastercard

The fees vary by which bank the merchant account is with. The basic ones are a per item charge, a charge based on a certain % of the transaction (refered to as the 'discount rate'), a monthly statement fee, and an annual fee. As you said, Amex costs more than Visa/MC.