Minimum amount accepted by shop with debit transaction

billyhead

I wanted to purchase bread using my debot card today in a local shop and was told that the value of the purchase was to low to accept a debit card transaction. Can somebody clarify if there is a minimum amount a shop can accept to pay by a debit card or does it vary from one retailer to another.

aidan_walsh

A retailer can set their own limit, but most I have seen have a reasonable limit around €10 or so.

paky

it varies from 5 euro in some shops to 10/15 euro in chinese takeaways.
this is normally the practice when the manger is a cheapskate

cookie1977

There's no minimum but most small shops refuse transactions for less then 10 euro due to the fee they have to pay basically wiping out profit on smaller transactions. There's nothing illegal in them refusing that. Although in saying that I've payed for bread in tesco on the express tills with a credit card. It mainly affects the small convenience stores/newsagents

Edit... triple snap

paky

in dublin of all places, some shops dont even accept debit or visa cards which is an absolute pain in the whole. this happend to me a few times after ordering food and waiting for it. honestly like

cookie1977

When I lived in New Zealand they had an eftpos (electronic funds transfer point of sale card) card system which allowed you to buy a lollipop from a shop with it. It also recorded the transaction instantly on your account rather than 2-3 days later as in ireland with debit/credit cards. Much better system. Suggested it to AIB when I came back and got the standard "thank you for your suggestion we will pass it on for review" response. That was 3 years ago...sigh

paky

cookie1977 wrote: »

When I lived in New Zealand they had an eftpos (electronic funds transfer point of sale card) card system which allowed you to buy a lollipop from a shop with it. It also recorded the transaction instantly on your account rather than 2-3 days later as in ireland with debit/credit cards. Much better system. Suggested it to AIB when I came back and got the standard "thank you for your suggestion we will pass it on for review" response. That was 3 years ago...sigh

lol i know. ireland is a joke when it comes to technology. its always the last to upgrade to anything.

hdowney

i understand small transactions (like a pan of bread) in a small corner store are too cost prohibitive for them so they impose a say €10 min spend, but the bigger stores/corporations surprise me. like i got told in easons once, when i was buying a 8.99 book, that their minimum spend was €10 so i should buy a drink or something to bring it up to the amount or pay with cash! easons for flipsake :eek::(:mad:

Del2005

hdowney wrote: »

i understand small transactions (like a pan of bread) in a small corner store are too cost prohibitive for them so they impose a say €10 min spend, but the bigger stores/corporations surprise me. like i got told in easons once, when i was buying a 8.99 book, that their minimum spend was €10 so i should buy a drink or something to bring it up to the amount or pay with cash! easons for flipsake :eek::(:mad:

Easons aren't that big a company and their retail branches are only a small part of the company, I doubt there's much profit from a €9 book to cover the cost of the laser fee.

cookie1977

Del2005 wrote: »

Easons aren't that big a company and their retail branches are only a small part of the company, I doubt there's much profit from a €9 book to cover the cost of the laser fee.

They employ 1800 staff and made a profit of almost 10million on turnover of 372 million in 2003 and are the main distributers nationwide of magazines and newspapers to smaller newsagents. They own Reads group and now also own the hughes and hughes stores. They probably share enough services to keep their costs down so whould be able to handle such a fee. I would very much disagree with you that they are a small cog within the family company.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eason_%26_Son

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

ScouseMouse

Just yesterday, I declined a visa debit card from a guy wanting to top up his gas card.

For doing the transaction, I get about 20c. The bank fee on the card is about....... 20c.

Go figure.

cookie1977

superscouse wrote: »

Just yesterday, I declined a visa debit card from a guy wanting to top up his gas card.

For doing the transaction, I get about 20c. The bank fee on the card is about....... 20c.

Go figure.

Can I ask, since it was cost neutral to you would it not have been better to accomadate him in the hope that he'll appreciate it enough to give you more business?

paky

cookie1977 wrote: »

Can I ask, since it was cost neutral to you would it not have been better to accomadate him in the hope that he'll appreciate it enough to give you more business?

i would of always thought that this was the sign of a bad business man.

regress

Would ye consider going to an ATM occasionally and carrying some cash in your wallet rather than using a debit card to buy things like a loaf of bread. Ever been stuck in a queue because someone was having difficulty figuring out how to use their card to purchase a packet of crisps.

Trhiggy83

they should not be advertised for use if they dont want people to use them. i find that i pay for a lot of things with my laser now and rarely have cash on me.

paky

regress wrote: »

Would ye consider going to an ATM occasionally and carrying some cash in your wallet rather than using a debit card to buy things like a loaf of bread. Ever been stuck in a queue because someone was having difficulty figuring out how to use their card to purchase a packet of crisps.

carrying cash is a nuisance. i feel obligated to purchase stuff i dont need when i have it...strange. but when i have the visa card i buy what i need with the comfort oif knowing that my money is safe in the bank

cat_rant

I like the security of a purchase made via debit cards - as long as you protect your pin etc... I don't feel comfortable carrying much cash. I can also keep track of my expenditure more accurately.

cookie1977

regress wrote: »

Would ye consider going to an ATM occasionally and carrying some cash in your wallet rather than using a debit card to buy things like a loaf of bread. Ever been stuck in a queue because someone was having difficulty figuring out how to use their card to purchase a packet of crisps.

In my case I get cash back on my credit card so when ever I get a chance to use it (apart from lidl and aldi) i do. Even for a packet of crisps

dotsman

cookie1977 wrote: »

They employ 1800 staff and made a profit of almost 10million on turnover of 372 million in 2003 and are the main distributers nationwide of magazines and newspapers to smaller newsagents. They own Reads group and now also own the hughes and hughes stores. They probably share enough services to keep their costs down so whould be able to handle such a fee. I would very much disagree with you that they are a small cog within the family company.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eason_%26_Son

That's a tiny Net Profit Margin, especially for 2003 (before the recession), so most likely in trouble today - just checked there and they announced redundancies back in march.

Anyway, the Eason's stores are only a small part of that company, and it has nothing to do with the number of staff. Tesco etc are a huge retailer and, thus, are in a position to negotiate smaller charges from their bank, and ultimately feel that they can offer that service at a profit.

Anyway, smart cards (contact-less payments) with lower/no retailer charges will be in Ireland soon, to deal with these issues.

ScouseMouse

cookie1977 wrote: »

Can I ask, since it was cost neutral to you would it not have been better to accomadate him in the hope that he'll appreciate it enough to give you more business?

AND then when it batchs to the bank, there is a transaction charge of another 20c.

AIB merchant services charge 20c ish for processing and then when they send it to my bank account, Ulster charge me another 20c ish as a transaction charge.

If I were to start doing things for a cost neutral basis, at a loss, then how can I make money to pay my mortgage? or pay the staff member for doing it, or pay the 15 euro charge per month for the machine to swipe the card through?

ScouseMouse

cookie1977 wrote: »

In my case I get cash back on my credit card so when ever I get a chance to use it (apart from lidl and aldi) i do. Even for a packet of crisps

What credit card has a cash back function?

Isnt that only for laser and debit cards?

cookie1977

superscouse wrote: »

What credit card has a cash back function?

Isnt that only for laser and debit cards?

In my defense on the neutral that's not what you said in your original post but fair enough. Re cash back. It's an AIB platinum card. Still available on aib site.

cookie1977

cookie1977 wrote: »

In my defense on the neutral that's not what you said in your original post but fair enough. Re cash back. It's an AIB platinum card. Still available on aib site.

Sorry just reading through the posts again. The cashback I talk about is a reward (free money) not a withdrawal like a laser card.

http://www.aib.ie/personal/credit-cards/Platinum-Credit-Card

imfml

Have the rules on this changed? I thought they had, that a retailer couldn’t refuse a card. Had my card refused today unless I was spending €5. I just needed milk & bread. The shop owner suggest a lotto ticket, but I left and told him I wanted to support local but I was off to Tesco Local up the road instead so.

SureYWouldntYa

Far as im aware, new PSD rules mean they cant charge extra for taking payment by card but there’s nothing about min spend, shops perogative

Eggs For Dinner

I had a chap wanting to pay me for a packet of chewing gum with his card. Big grin on him in front of his mates trying to act the man. Told him to F off out of the shop. Now he was trying to act the eejit, but seriously, any normal person wanting to process a card for under €5 needs to have a think

cookie1977

Back in 2007 when I lived in New Zealand we could buy anything with eftpos. Even costing less then a New Zealand dollar (at the time worth about 50 euro cent). Dont see why that cant come in here. If we're heading towards cashless it will have to happen with the cost shared out amongst all involved in the transaction.

ED E

ScouseMouse wrote: »

Just yesterday, I declined a visa debit card from a guy wanting to top up his gas card.

For doing the transaction, I get about 20c. The bank fee on the card is about....... 20c.

Go figure.

You're the kind I blacklist. Like the bookshop fella at the top of Grafton, 50c to pay contactless? F*ck right off.


I can go to Tesco/Dunnes/Aldi whoever and pay contactless for a 60c drink. £1 london bus, no problem. If you refuse the card I'll just leave the stuff for you to reshelve and jog on.

Arrival

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

I had a chap wanting to pay me for a packet of chewing gum with his card. Big grin on him in front of his mates trying to act the man. Told him to F off out of the shop. Now he was trying to act the eejit, but seriously, any normal person wanting to process a card for under €5 needs to have a think

Ehhh, what? I use my card for transactions <€5 all the time, I try to avoid using cash as much as possible since the tap to pay is literally the quickest and easiest method of payment...even on the shops end, you can deal with customers far quicker with this since there's no arsing around with cash and change and the money and transaction are instantly accounted for and tracked making it easier for you to tally everything up

riffmongous

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

I had a chap wanting to pay me for a packet of chewing gum with his card. Big grin on him in front of his mates trying to act the man. Told him to F off out of the shop. Now he was trying to act the eejit, but seriously, any normal person wanting to process a card for under €5 needs to have a think

All I'll think is I won't bother going back there again. I just use the card tap for pretty much everything nowadays, much faster

Tzardine

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

I had a chap wanting to pay me for a packet of chewing gum with his card. Big grin on him in front of his mates trying to act the man. Told him to F off out of the shop. Now he was trying to act the eejit, but seriously, any normal person wanting to process a card for under €5 needs to have a think

Seems clear to me which one of the two of you was "trying to act the man".

lardzeppelin

Cards schmards, I draw out 200 a fortnight, that covers petrol, shopping /provisions, food out once or twice a week...bills are paid by direct debit and saving money is a way of life... Now I am single with no mortgage, but that's a side, I'm one of those farts that gets very frustrated with ques, store cards, shop and save coupons and people who load the bag while the teller is waiting for payment....i guess that makes me a snarky little glove puppet...

Eggs For Dinner

Tzardine wrote:

Seems clear to me which one of the two of you was "trying to act the man".

Why so? He was deliberately acting the maggot and I refused to accept it.

howamidifferent

I didn't think it was an issue paying with cards. I paid for an €0.80 cent purchase on a card yesterday no issues.

Eggs For Dinner

ED E wrote:

I can go to Tesco/Dunnes/Aldi whoever and pay contactless for a 60c drink. £1 london bus, no problem. If you refuse the card I'll just leave the stuff for you to reshelve and jog on.

Reshelving a can of Coke is better than selling it to you at a net loss

fritzelly

Way to necro an irrelevant thread

As far as I remember retailers get charged 0.1% for debit card purchases (a tiny amount) - they may have other bank charges but they are par for the course and not related to individual payments and are charges they would have to pay regardless

The world is going cash free and it's arriving very quickly - I very rarely use cash for anything these days. May take out €40 and that lasts me all week for those shops that still charge 50c for paying by debit card though I try to avoid them

CeilingFly

fritzelly wrote: »

Way to necro an irrelevant thread

As far as I remember retailers get charged 0.1% for debit card purchases (a tiny amount) - they may have other bank charges but they are par for the course and not related to individual payments and are charges they would have to pay regardless

The interchange fee is about 0.1%, but payment processors have to make a small margin too.

I'm in retail, I'm charged 0.32% for debit cards.

If I lodge cash in the bank, I'm charged 0.45%

If I lodge coins in the bank its 1.5%

Our lowest priced item is €1. If you offered me a choice of cash or debit card for that €1, I'll take the card.

A lot of small retailers don't seem to realise that card charges are now lower than cash charges.

Its definitely cashless these days - less than 20% of our turnover is cash.

BabysCoffee

Eggs For Dinner wrote:

I had a chap wanting to pay me for a packet of chewing gum with his card. Big grin on him in front of his mates trying to act the man. Told him to F off out of the shop. Now he was trying to act the eejit, but seriously, any normal person wanting to process a card for under €5 needs to have a think

I buy lots of things with my card for under a euro or two. Cans of coke, gum, anything.
I'd stop going to a shop that wouldn't accept card payments for these things.

fritzelly

Actually just checked up on it and appears to be illegal to charge a surcharge on purchases because you are using a debit card while still having a minimum spend - kinda contradictory

Time

CeilingFly wrote: »

The interchange fee is about 0.1%, but payment processors have to make a small margin too.

I'm in retail, I'm charged 0.32% for debit cards.

If I lodge cash in the bank, I'm charged 0.45%

If I lodge coins in the bank its 1.5%

Our lowest priced item is €1. If you offered me a choice of cash or debit card for that €1, I'll take the card.

A lot of small retailers don't seem to realise that card charges are now lower than cash charges.

Its definitely cashless these days - less than 20% of our turnover is cash.

Never mind the cost to have the cash counted, travel to the bank etc... In the same boat myself and between giving out cash back and accepting cards i rarely end up going to the bank at all these days unless i need coins.

Delta2113

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

I had a chap wanting to pay me for a packet of chewing gum with his card. Big grin on him in front of his mates trying to act the man. Told him to F off out of the shop. Now he was trying to act the eejit, but seriously, any normal person wanting to process a card for under €5 needs to have a think

- No need for that behavior Mr Shopkeeper.

TheMilkyPirate

I use my card for everything these days. So much quicker and so much easier to keep track of what I spend.

I very rarely if ever have cash in my wallet. If a shop won't take my card for a small purchase I just don't go there again.

BobMc

Got this update recently regards accepting

Changes to payment acceptance
1. You are no longer allowed to surcharge cardholders to pay by card (if the card was issued within the European Economic Area - EEA) unless it is specifically a Commercial or Corporate card and then, you can only charge as much as you are paying for that transaction. See “prohibition on surcharging for consumer cards” in the FAQ section below.

2. You must accept card payment for any value of transaction; you cannot set a minimum purchase price.

3. You must agree the specific amount, and get consent from the cardholder, to reserve or pre-authorise funds against the payment card in anticipation of a future transaction. See "customer consent for reservation of funds” in the FAQ section below.

Alun

CeilingFly wrote: »

I'm in retail, I'm charged 0.32% for debit cards.

Is that the same regardless of whether it's a PIN or a contactless transaction? I would have thought contactless would have been cheaper for some reason.

368100

CeilingFly wrote: »

The interchange fee is about 0.1%, but payment processors have to make a small margin too.

I'm in retail, I'm charged 0.32% for debit cards.

If I lodge cash in the bank, I'm charged 0.45%

If I lodge coins in the bank its 1.5%

Our lowest priced item is €1. If you offered me a choice of cash or debit card for that €1, I'll take the card.

A lot of small retailers don't seem to realise that card charges are now lower than cash charges.

Its definitely cashless these days - less than 20% of our turnover is cash.

This...

If only more retail owners knew their charges like this there wouldnt be any minimum charge nonsense when it costs more to lodge cash takings..not to mention the security risk and insurance for keeping cash on premises

368100

Alun wrote: »

Is that the same regardless of whether it's a PIN or a contactless transaction? I would have thought contactless would have been cheaper for some reason.

Contactless are cheaper. I think they had no charge at the start to promote the use of it but i believe theyre around the 0.1% mark now depending on the merchant service

Dj320

CeilingFly wrote: »

The interchange fee is about 0.1%, but payment processors have to make a small margin too.

I'm in retail, I'm charged 0.32% for debit cards.

If I lodge cash in the bank, I'm charged 0.45%

If I lodge coins in the bank its 1.5%

Our lowest priced item is €1. If you offered me a choice of cash or debit card for that €1, I'll take the card.

A lot of small retailers don't seem to realise that card charges are now lower than cash charges.

Its definitely cashless these days - less than 20% of our turnover is cash.

Bad business from you if your lodging cash and paying the bank, lots of ways of getting rid of cash and not paying the bank to lodge, your mad if your doing it

Dj320

368100 wrote: »

This...

If only more retail owners knew their charges like this there wouldnt be any minimum charge nonsense when it costs more to lodge cash takings..not to mention the security risk and insurance for keeping cash on premises

He obviously knows his charges but is crazy lodging cash in the bank , bad business, I haven’t lodged cash in 6years or bought coin or lodged coin, only thing I lodge is Cheques , and I charge 25c for card transactions under €5, when your being charged €1800 per month for card transactions then you start to wise up, it’s not being mean

Time

Dj320 wrote: »

Bad business from you if your lodging cash and paying the bank, lots of ways of getting rid of cash and not paying the bank to lodge, your mad if your doing it

Such as? Genuinely interested to know as i'm sick of paying for notes to be lodged.

Dj320

Time wrote: »

Such as? Genuinely interested to know as i'm sick of paying for notes to be lodged.

Pay all your suppliers in cash, get an atm in store( doesn’t suit all businesses I know) if not then find a shop that has an atm in store, they generally don’t generate enough cash for an atm and often end up buying cash from the bank ( bank makes more money).You give the shop the cash, they transfer online or a Cheque , you just need to find someone with a shop who you can trust , or pay as many suppliers as possible in cash