House Finance Commitee Wants to Allow Stores to Set Minimums & Refuse Cards

[radi8]

The reality is that MOST people do not live their lives around whether a store will take their credit card for a fifty cent purchase.

Word.

 

Nor would most stores care about a single customer or two going "elsewhere" because of a credit card policy. Esp if that customer was only going to create a loss by charging what should be pocket change.

Many ASSUME that when somebody charges under $1 that they ALWAYS do that

 

Like last week they were not there spending $100+

 

The week before they spent $250

 

(THAT WAS THEIR TWIN BROTHER)

 

They don't always spend real big...but they don't ALWAYS spend less than $1 either

 

I suspect the number of people who would leave the store and never return instead of just grabbing $1 out of their wallet is pretty small.

Heck, it's faster to pay in cash at the convenience store than swipe...wait...press "credit"...wait...press "OK" on the total...wait....sign...wait...

CASH IN MY WALLET TOTALS $0.00

 

I do have some vending machine change in my pocket

 

I'm not sure you are the average consumer though George. A lot of folks carry at least a modest amount of cash on them.

[TrevorHere]

The reality is that MOST people do not live their lives around whether a store will take their credit card for a fifty cent purchase.

Word.

 

Nor would most stores care about a single customer or two going "elsewhere" because of a credit card policy. Esp if that customer was only going to create a loss by charging what should be pocket change.

Many ASSUME that when somebody charges under $1 that they ALWAYS do that

 

Like last week they were not there spending $100+

 

The week before they spent $250

 

(THAT WAS THEIR TWIN BROTHER)

 

They don't always spend real big...but they don't ALWAYS spend less than $1 either

 

I suspect the number of people who would leave the store and never return instead of just grabbing $1 out of their wallet is pretty small.

Heck, it's faster to pay in cash at the convenience store than swipe...wait...press "credit"...wait...press "OK" on the total...wait....sign...wait...

 

Not too many items are less a $1. And my smallest occasional purchase is a candy bar or soda to cycle my USAA card

 

But yeah, now and then I'll make an under $5 purchase - but this is done at a place where I make significantly larger purchases at other times - so they see plenty of profit from me.

 

As far as transaction speed most places don't make you sign for under $20, so it's just swipe, take items & receipt and out the door...

[centex]

As far as transaction speed most places don't make you sign for under $20, so it's just swipe, take items & receipt and out the door...

 

I miss those places...grocery store near the office even has the customer signing for sub-ten dollar purchases...ran into the same thing as small town TacoHell.

[TrevorHere]

As far as transaction speed most places don't make you sign for under $20, so it's just swipe, take items & receipt and out the door...

 

I miss those places...grocery store near the office even has the customer signing for sub-ten dollar purchases...ran into the same thing as small town TacoHell.

Wait, so some places have reverted to signing for under 20 purchases in your area?

[centex]

As far as transaction speed most places don't make you sign for under $20, so it's just swipe, take items & receipt and out the door...

 

I miss those places...grocery store near the office even has the customer signing for sub-ten dollar purchases...ran into the same thing as small town TacoHell.

Wait, so some places have reverted to signing for under 20 purchases in your area?

 

Haven't seen it as much in the Austin area as in the more remote areas of the State (a second office is about an hour north of Houston). Many of the people in the more remote areas still go bat-poop crazy if they see a stack of cards or even just get a glimpse of the Plat card.

[Uncle Leo]

As far as transaction speed most places don't make you sign for under $20, so it's just swipe, take items & receipt and out the door...

I miss those places...grocery store near the office even has the customer signing for sub-ten dollar purchases...ran into the same thing as small town TacoHell.

Wait, so some places have reverted to signing for under 20 purchases in your area?

A few places in my area have gone back to requiring signatures for all purchases where they didn't for awhile. Even at that, the majority here still always required signatures. The 'no sig' thing never really caught on.

[radi8]

As far as transaction speed most places don't make you sign for under $20,

 

One chain of convenience stores around here is like that, but most everywhere else still requires signatures.

Of course I live in the middle of nowhere, some merchants are still using dial-up authorization terminals too. Cash is definitely faster than "gotta wait a minute young feller, the card machine wont' work until we're done faxing".

[Uncle Leo]

...some merchants are still using dial-up authorization terminals too.

That really catches me off-guard anymore. Kinda like a rotary phone.

[TrevorHere]

...some merchants are still using dial-up authorization terminals too.

That really catches me off-guard anymore. Kinda like a rotary phone.

 

dail up authorization? don't believe I've even seen that

[GEORGE]

...some merchants are still using dial-up authorization terminals too.

That really catches me off-guard anymore. Kinda like a rotary phone.

 

dail up authorization? don't believe I've even seen that

The authorization terminal is connected to the PHONE LINE

 

Usually not the primary line

 

Sometimes it is the DEDICATED FAX PHONE LINE (if they are even that advanced)

 

Somebody on the backroom is talking to their buddy or girlfriend on that line...you wait till they are done

[radi8]

...some merchants are still using dial-up authorization terminals too.

That really catches me off-guard anymore. Kinda like a rotary phone.

 

dail up authorization? don't believe I've even seen that

 

 

C'mon East over to Moo-ville.

[hurricanesfans27]

very common in hee haw land.

[sfbehr]

...some merchants are still using dial-up authorization terminals too.

That really catches me off-guard anymore. Kinda like a rotary phone.

 

dail up authorization? don't believe I've even seen that

 

 

C'mon East over to Moo-ville.

 

Actually there is a small ethnic food market I patronize here that still uses dial-up for authorizations, so it's not just in small towns or rural areas.

[thelowpriceleader]

Many small businesses use dial up. Especially those with those small size terminals that are used to process the card.

[BBQ123]

Low-volume merchants often use dial-up so they can use an existing land-line versus getting a dedicated data line.

[athensgaguy]

I could stomach minimums being allowed as long as there was significant disclosure requirements (sign visible from the road, maybe, so I wouldn't have to waste my time going to that business).

 

I can't wait to have the chance to have all of the cards in my wallet refused due to their reward categories...