Credit Card Fees & Promotions
18 posts across 6 communities in the last 60 days; 72% from r/CreditCards.
“We usually don't have much of an issue, maybe 1 or 2 high risk fraud cancelled every few months. This is about 25 in the past week!”
“I've never had a rewards card in my life, so I'm fine with that. Tired of paying for everyone else's rewards.”
“Don't know what flair but this suits the best. Axis Bank has been calling me non-stop early in the morning to inquire if I need a credit card and this is frustrating. How do I stop/report this? This is seriously reaching its limits”
Customers are frustrated with unexpected Amex surcharges, aggressive promotional tactics from Dunkin', and generally feeling manipulated by credit card offers. There's also concern about spam calls related to Comenity cards.
SOURCES (60)
“We usually don't have much of an issue, maybe 1 or 2 high risk fraud cancelled every few months. This is about 25 in the past week!”
So where is the money supposed to come from then? The sky?
“but I wonder if the rewards game will all blow up if the US ever caps interchange fees like much of the rest of the card-using world has. It definitely would, but I doubt the federal government would ever cap the fees. Visa and Mastercard wield enormous influence with our politicians.”
“You pay for it either way, either it’s baked into the price or you pay an explicit surcharge. It makes zero difference either way, pay cash if you don’t want to pay the surcharge.”
“I'm going to disagree, because this way you actually know how much the CC providers (VISA, Mastercard) are actually extorting from every business on the planet forever. What it should do is make you pissed at the CC companies and demand alternatives, not the small businesses.”
“Few months ago, we went to Toronto and had to go to Costco. Was surprised that they don't accept Visa and only Mastercard. The only MC I had didn't have zero foreign transaction fee, but I had no other choice to pay. I was surprised later than no transaction fee was charged. So I am curious if US credits cards with foreign transaction fees are considered local transactions in Canada? Or that was specific to Costco/Toronto? Any DPs from other locations in Canada like Alberta? submit”
“I've never had a rewards card in my life, so I'm fine with that. Tired of paying for everyone else's rewards.”
“no no i know i'm just saying that it's bad optics to intentionally charge people extra fees to use cards. I feel the same way about the jerks who run one of the off-site parking garages in Seattle. They have an actual fee called "l.iving wage subsidy" -- as a call-out to it. This tells me they were very against it politically and are just trying to make a point of calling it out as a line-item as sour grapes.”
“Maybe the people who warned us about the rush to a "cashless society" weren't just a bunch of crazy conspiracy theorists. They warned us for years it would lead to more proverty, and a loss of purchasing power. The credit card fee is small potatoes compared to the average 26% interest rate people pay everytime they buy something.”
“But you can pay in cash and save the fee. You are paying for the convenience and are sad about it. They could raise there prices by 3% to everyone but they are choosing to give a break for those that are not costing them the fee.”
I’m honestly not okay with that either. It’s not fair to everyone
“Are you okay with discounts for cash-paying customers? This is just the opposite way of doing the same thing. I think there are plenty of practices that should not be legal and should at least be regulated. I don't think this is one of them. Have you told the billing department about the concern you have and asked them to waive the fee? If you're serious about walking away if they don't, then you have a remedy.”
“FYI in many places, it's illegal to charge a card fee for debit transactions. That being said, Why should the business have to pay a processing fee because you cannot afford to pay with cash or a debit card? If you can, and want to avoid the fees, then do it. If the only way you can afford what ever you're purchasing is a credit card, then you accept the fee, and evaluate whether or not the purchase is worth it, or maybe you should evaluate your lifestyle. If you want to use your credit”
“I typically do an annual 2-3% price increase and I had never incorporated in the cc fees prior. So it would have been a 5-6% increase this year if I just added in the cc fee. Instead I raised it 2% and that way if people want to use their debit card, cash or check the cost is 2% more than last year. If people want the ability to use points and miles to book vacations, they can pay the 2% price increase and the cc fee that is charged directly by the credit card company. Just FYI the range was 2.8”
“Get ready for more. Visa and MC now allow merchants to charge either at the brand level (e.g. All Visa cards) or at the product level (e.g. only Visa Signature). Because it's easier and legal, expect it to be on all cards where permitted. Note some states limit or prohibit surcharging. Also, surcharging only applies to credit transactions, not debit. And a merchant cannot get around this limitation by running a debit transaction as a credit card trx. HOWEVER, some merchant category codes MCC”
“It's only illegal in like 3 states, and only because the courts haven't gotten around to striking down those laws yet. In almost every state where those laws have been challenged, they have been invalidated.”
“They used to have a Google Pay physical card, I had it and then they introduced NFC. Not the same as a credit card, I know.”
“Gas stations in my state do this! It’s 20 cents more to use a credit card per gallon”
“It’s paying for your convenience and literally shifting the cost of that convenience to the merchant, who in turn, raises the price to shift it back to you.”
“We don’t, but very VERY rarely do we get asked to pay in cash anyways. It’s weird to me to charge a surcharge for cash. We handle it 99.9% of the time through our payment processor, so they automatically calculate the amount for processing the transaction and it’s added as a separate line on top of our invoice, the money never technically even touches my hands.”
“It is illegal in some states. You have the option to use a debit card or cash to avoid the fee and for larger purchases a wire or ach transfer. Or use a credit card that gives 2% cash back so you’re only eating 1%.”
“I totally agree with you. While I'm enjoying the CC game myself, I'd much rather people not lose out, if they do not want to play it. Cap swipe fees at 1% for credit and debit, like Europe or Australia. If businesses want to be cashless and online, they have to pay it. If you or anyone wants to use a premium card to earn points, insurance, benefits, they pay the extra 3%, or AF, or whatever fees they want.”
“Yes! And most importantly, banks charge merchants cash handling fees to deposit and "digitize" the cash. Banks don't do that for free. I've found that many "cash-preferred"/"cash-only" small businesses will be surprisingly upfront with you about their tax evasion if you care to ask. That's the real reason why cash is "cheaper" for them to accept.”
“Not saying the consumer has a responsibility, just pointing out that in a good percentage of cases that happens.”
“Do you also charge a surcharge for cash? Put another way, how do you figure ACH or debit payments cost you more to accept than cash payments?”
“The rewards offset it in some cases, but you're still paying the 3%. It's a net break even instead of earning the 3%, so you're still getting the shaft.”
“Very true. Sadly I don't typically see merchants differentiate between credit and debit when applying the surcharges.”
“This should be made illegal. Adding 3% fees onto totals of transactions is such BS. The doctor wants to add this fee for their stupid payment. I was at a restaurant the other day and on the bottom of their menu it said they add a fee also. Some stores do this. It is so anti consumer and it needs to end. If you want to accept credit cards, then eat the fees. Don’t make the customer pay for it. Otherwise I’m not shopping there. But this needs to be illegal. Things like my stupid dermatology appoin”
“Don't know what flair but this suits the best. Axis Bank has been calling me non-stop early in the morning to inquire if I need a credit card and this is frustrating. How do I stop/report this? This is seriously reaching its limits submitted by /u/Admirable_Ad_4737 [link] [comments]”
“People are going to be snarky know-it-alls about this, but you're right--it's absolutely an insane thing for the bank to be allowed to include in the agreement that they know almost no one reads.”
“Was bored last night and for some reason decided to actually read through my credit card agreement. Got about 8 pages deep into what is genuinely the most painfully written document I've ever encountered and found something that kinda floored me. There's a clause in there that says if the bank does something wrong like overcharges me, messes up my account or whatever I can't take them to court. At all. Instead it goes to something called mandatory arbitration where the arbitrator is”
“Funny that after a couple decades, I dumped all my AMEX cards due to the outrageous yearly charges that I got zero benefits from a few months ago. I considered THEM predatory lol. Someone below mentioned simply putting a recurring subscription on the crap card. This is a rather good idea since part of your credit score is available credit. 500 isn't much but at this point in your your credit progress, it is better than nothing. Since AMEX gold is a charge card rather than a credit card, I am”
You can use a DNS ad blocker and you probably won’t see them anymore.
“Weird. I have never seen a third-party advertisement within my AmEx, BofA, Chase, or Citi accounts on their apps or websites. 🤨”
“Agree with you on the Dunkin credit. A $7/mo. credit for anything is just asinine. I don't buy coffee often either, but did learn recently there are Dunkin/Baskin Robbins combo stores where you can use your Dunkin balance on ice cream. Minor win for me.”
“I just give them to my friends or whoever. My Amex Platinum has the $75 a quarter Lululemon credit, I dont wear anything from there. Tried socks, they are the worst garbage ive ever owned. Also, $68 dor 4 pair... no. My other half on the other hand likes their clothes. She he knows he now gets a bare minimum of $75 a quarter in stuff. Lol. My coworker was buying an Oura Ring and I was like oh hey wait, would you like $200 off? She actually gave me $100 back in cash. Now she got $100 off and sinc”
“Local businesses also pay more for transaction fees since the big Walmarts of the world have dramatically negotiated their merchant fees down. I charge a 3% surcharge on my clients, but they're welcome to do a bank transfer for no additional fee. I find it's about 25% who do use credit cards”
“How can you set up the clover machine to add the 3% processing fee? if the banks have an agreement with clover?”
“How do you know there is a fee? Are they posting it? Does it show up as a warning when you’re about to pay?”
“This is the worst (not just auto service). They require signs at checkout/menu for fees, but they are never disclosed online or when you make appointments (restaurant, dentist, home/auto repair). That's basically a surprise junk fee that skirts the rules, in my opinion. You can always call to ask every single time, but come on.... You're not going to walk out because the cancellation/no show fee is even higher (even though they can cancel on you without providing compensation).”
“Getting close. All my cards can nullify the bullshit fees but I make a point of avoiding places that tack them on if not disclosed upfront.”
“The number at the bottom of this infographic is where I called when I had questions and needed clarification on a business that was charging a legally transparent 3.9% on all credit card transactions: https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/04/2024-04-10-dos-dcp-credit-card-surcharge-one-page-reference-guide.pdf”
“I'm not sure where you are getting this information, but it is wrong. For example, you say businesses can charge more than it costs them to process, which is not true: any such surcharge may not exceed the amount of the surcharge charged to the business by the credit card company for such credit card use. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GBS/518 lays out the actual law. Businesses cannot add a surcharge to credit card transactions. They may instead offer a cash discount or maintain”
Oh, you mean the POS terminal's suggested 18%? That makes sense. Good tip.
“I’m in Chicago and so many restaurants charge 3.5% or 4% but label it as optional fee that you can ask to be removed, in lieu of raising prices or employee fee or some nonsense like that to side step this rule.”
“A few weeks ago I was charged a credit card fee from a restaurant for the first time. This might not be widespread but was confused to see the charge on my receipt.”
“A lot of places even still charge it when you use debit. You can argue it but seems like they get annoyed everytime.”