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Why don't more apartment complexes let you pay rent with your CC?

M

ManBearPig

Diamond Member
In fact, over the past 5 years, living at 4 diff places, not one has let me pay by CC. Is this normal (maybe only for college towns?)?
 
ViviTheMage said:
The %% cut VISA/MC/AMEX want would dip into their profits.
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Yep. Plus you could always protest the charge after moving out and stiff them. Not that you couldn't do the same with a bounced check.

But it's really about the hassle and cost of processing the CC payment.
 
JulesMaximus said:
This. AMEX is the worst...
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They're the same for all 4 (discover included) ... at least through my Merchant account they are.

2.25% + 30 cents per transaction .. no matter the amount....otherwise 3.75% and 40 cents per transaction.

$1200 rent and $45~ is taken out, can add up quick.
 
Would be a nice way for you to rack up rewards points, but like others stated, the card holder's cut would cut out too much profit
 
ViviTheMage said:
They're the same for all 4 (discover included) ... at least through my Merchant account they are.

2.25% + 30 cents per transaction .. no matter the amount....otherwise 3.75% and 40 cents per transaction.

$1200 rent and $45~ is taken out, can add up quick.
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Maybe they've changed...Amex used to be 5-6% while the others were around 2-3%. I haven't looked at this in years though.
 
Isn't it amazing to realize that as society goes more and more toward using plastic for virtually every purchase, rather than paper money, that Amex, Discover, Visa, Mastercard are moving toward taking a 2% cut of everything sold in the US? Think about that... 2% of everything purchased by consumers. That's a LOT of money for something that can be run, to a large degree, by a relatively few computers.
 
DrPizza said:
Isn't it amazing to realize that as society goes more and more toward using plastic for virtually every purchase, rather than paper money, that Amex, Discover, Visa, Mastercard are moving toward taking a 2% cut of everything sold in the US? Think about that... 2% of everything purchased by consumers. That's a LOT of money for something that can be run, to a large degree, by a relatively few computers.
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That's why there *should* be a transaction fee that is a fixed amount (if truly it is warranted).

Remember kiddies, ATM's were supposed to save banks money... yet they charge you to use them.
 
Possessed Freak said:
That's why there *should* be a transaction fee that is a fixed amount (if truly it is warranted).

Remember kiddies, ATM's were supposed to save banks money... yet they charge you to use them.
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Huh, Bank of America has never charged me for using a Bank of America AMT.

Maybe you need to find a new bank if you bank is charging you for using their ATMs.
 
Patranus said:
Huh, Bank of America has never charged me for using a Bank of America AMT.

Maybe you need to find a new bank if you bank is charging you for using their ATMs.
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Some banks charge for using their ATMs, most banks charge if you are using their ATM and you are from another bank, some banks charge another fee if you use their ATM card at another bank.
 
DrPizza said:
Isn't it amazing to realize that as society goes more and more toward using plastic for virtually every purchase, rather than paper money, that Amex, Discover, Visa, Mastercard are moving toward taking a 2% cut of everything sold in the US? Think about that... 2% of everything purchased by consumers. That's a LOT of money for something that can be run, to a large degree, by a relatively few computers.
Click to expand...

Just to play devils advocate, I don't think the relatively few computers line is true. For starters, the scale is tremendous - VISA alone processed 28 billion transactions in 2006, that averages out to ~900 transactions per second. And if you consider uneven distribution it probably spikes to 10,000 transactions per second. You need quite a bit more than a few computers to process those (especially since you need to keep audit record of every transactions).

Secondly, they're probably other expenses, like Fraud, customer support, etc - although I'm not sure how many of those are paid by networks, vs issuers.
 
Hmmm, if only there was a way to transfer money between the tenant and the landlord without having to pay that 2-3% CC fees. Oh wait, its called a check or online bill pay if you want it done automatically.

Don't know why anyone would want to use a CC for something like that. As everyone should already know, transaction fees eat up 2-3% (probably less if you are a huge merchant like Target or Walmart, but I highly doubt any apartment complex could get rates that low). So if they were to accept them they'd either be eating 2-3% (which would be stupid for them. And if they do eat it, you should ask for a discount for paying with a check) or they'd be charging you a CC fee (which would be stupid for you).
 
Mine allows it, but there might be a fee. My rent is paid by check anyway so it doesn't matter to me. Smaller complexes aren't as likely to allow it.
 
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