Watch your fuel prices!

[DonandBonnie]

We have always been told that a debit card is the same as cash. We've recently been in two separate stations that show the split cash/credit prices, one in Ohio and one in West Virginia. They refuse to give the cash price even when they knew I was paying with a debit card.

I now ask first. If they refuse the cash price, I make sure they ring up the sale as credit. That puts the credit company fees on them rather than my bank.

[dieselguy]

As you already eluded to ... a debit card is not exactly the same as cash as some banks applys fees just as a credit card company would. What the percentage is compared to a credit card ... I dunno. When some of us small sellers sell on EBay ... we most all adjust pricing for the 3% fee of selling price placed upon us should the buyer uses a card instead of say a money order.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by dieselguy

As you already eluded to ... a debit card is not exactly the same as cash as some banks applys fees just as a credit card company would. What the percentage is compared to a credit card ... I dunno. When some of us small sellers sell on EBay ... we most all adjust pricing for the 3% fee of selling price placed upon us should the buyer uses a card instead of say a money order.

Exactly! Although to the user, a debit card is the same as writing a check, to the retailer, it's the same as being paid via credit card because there are fees assessed.

[WaltBennett]

We've been using merchant accounts from several banks over the years, Square for the last three. All of them charged US a fee for any kind of card and more for those 'points' cards too. Doesn't matter credit or debit, and your airplane trips & cash back come out of the merchant's pocket, not the banks (like they infer in the commercials).

[richfaa]

We are not charged any bank fees for the use of our debit card.

[Irlpguy]

For several years we have traveled 3000 - 3500 miles and a lot of gas stations offer a discount for cash. On most if not all the flying J's and some of the other high volume stations it says clearly debit/credit one price, cash another price.

We normally try to carry sufficient cash to take advantage of that discount, however when we must pay by credit or debit I understand them trying to cover the cost of that convenience, it does not come free for them.

I pay no fees for the use of my debit card and can have unlimited transactions on it per month. I do not pay an annual fee for my credit card and have a fantastic rate when and if I cannot pay it off when the statement arrives. Using your credit/debit card costs the supplier money, it "makes" money for the banks.

When diesel is in the $4.00 range I am happy to carry cash to be able to take advantage of the discount. I don't know why anyone would expect a cash only discount when you are not paying by cash.

[DonandBonnie]

As my bank explained it to me, all cards are charged a usage fee by the credit card company. With a credit card the fees are paid by the merchant. With a debit card the fees are paid by the issuing bank. Whether the bank passes those fees on to their customers is up to the bank. The fact that debit card fees are not paid by the merchant is suppose to be the incentive to treat them as cash.

[DQDick]

I'm not a real believer in the words truthful and bankers being used in the same sentence. We are part of a national contract to process credit and debit cards at the store and we pay fees for both. It is true that rewards credit cards cost us more than debit cards, but taking debit cards are by no means free to the merchant.

[richfaa]

Since you are a merchant DQDick your information is good. We have been told various things but you would know. Why do most merchants ask you "do you want to use this as a debit or credit card" and we note than when we use the debit card as a credit card the transaction amount comes out of our bank account instantly same as the debt transaction. We see no difference using the card as debit or credit. Based on your information the merchant does.

[DonandBonnie]

When I signed up for my debit card, the banker asked me to use it as a credit card as often as I could so that the fees would go to the merchant rather than the bank. Having said that, I can't argue with DQDick. Having a very limited experience on the merchants end of credit cards over the past year, I learned that it is almost impossible to understand how or why credit card companies apply fees and charges. It would probably take a professional accountant several weeks to audit a monthly credit card statement to verify correctness.

[richfaa]

We have a bank credit card and it is a separate account with a separate web site and there is a interest change and that is how the bank makes money on a credit card. We have a debit card with the same bank/ The transaction comes directly out of our checking account with no interest or fees so how does the bank make money on a debt card other than us maintaining a checking account balance and they use the $$$ in the checking account.

[DonandBonnie]

Most all of the banks, businesses, etc. who issue credit/debit cards in their own names contract with the big credit card companies, Visa, MasterCard and the like to manage the use of the cards. The credit card company charges fees for this service that the customer using the card never sees. The fees vary all over the place and are usually a percentage of the purchase. As an example when you make a purchase with your credit card, 3%+/- of what you pay will be deducted from what the credit card company delivers to the merchant. If what I have related above is true about debit cards, the credit card company will take your purchase plus 3%+/- as their fee for that service. If DQDick's correct, the debit card fee will be charged against the merchant. There are probably as many variations about how these fees are applied as there are words in the dictionary.

[gjetzen]

...And just another tip, after the transaction is complete and you have your receipt, no mater if you are using your credit or debit card, always press the clear button.

[DQDick]

There are indeed a wide variety of charges, side deals and volume discounts. Fast food (what we are) have a different set of charges because our ticket amounts are typically small and plentiful Our monthly statement, from the processor, is typically an 8-10 page document in very small print printed on both sides and we are a small rural store. As in any other business someone, read us, is going to pay for the service. On the other hand, it's far better than trying to collect bad checks. The folks asking if it's credit or debit typically have older equipment. Our registers decide on their own based on the card and we never know what type of card a customer has. Because of our agreement with the processor we don't ask for a signature on any purchase made with any type of card unless the amount is over $25.