It is illegal for a restaurant to have minimum amount for CC purchases

[irwin]

sometimes when you go to restaurants or stores, you see placards that read "bill must meet $25 limit for credit card use" or something.

but according to action line (http://www0.mercurycenter.com/columnists/actionline/docs/action25.htm)...



There are no laws prohibiting such limits on purchases, but the practice violates the operating rules that merchants accepting Visa and MasterCard are required to follow.

A Visa official says the charge card rules in the merchant's agreement stipulate that no one should be required to make a minimum purchase. With millions of merchants accepting credit cards, the charge companies rely on consumers to be their eyes and ears, the official says.

You should file a complaint by calling the 800 number on the back of your card. A word from the issuing bank is usually all it takes to have merchants remove the limit.
Merchants who don't comply face the possibility of the charge card company rescinding its agreement with that merchant.

FIGHT THE POWER! :)

[m0j0]

well, iono about anyone else, but i would often agree with a minimum. not like $25 or something, but something like a few bucks. i know that they are charged per transaction, so if you try to charge like $1, it is a drag for them.

[TheLoneGunman]

Great minds think alike. I have harrassed many a shopkeeper about their "minimum" charge which is a violation of their agreement as noted above.

It is like PayPal, Billpoint, or any of the online services -- sure the seller pays more on small payments, but that is a cost of doing business. If you are unhappy with it, don't sell.

[Black Francis]

Actually, I manage a Subway which accepts credit cards, and we are not charged a flat rate.....it is based on percentages....I am not sure if this is true for everyone. We regularly have people (college students) use credit cards for purchases as low as $.50.

[TheLoneGunman]

I have set up credit card processing for a number of multi-million dollar sites and the general deal is per transaction fee + percentage of total bill. Frequently the bank offers you a choice (like $0.50 + 1.5% or $.25 + 2%). Therefore if you expect a many transactions with low dollar you pick the second choice and if it is a few high dollar ones you pick the second.

They have the combination fees because they have two different expenses: cost of machines and computers for processing and authorizing and then the "cost of money" for actually moving the cash between accounts. By billing each they can establish both organizations as independent P & L (profit and loss) centers and make their financials look better...

but I think I went to deep into this for an off topic post