Comments about ‘'Plastic' fees battering merchants’

I've been wondering how long it would take for merchants to realize how costly it is for them to accept these credit services and report on it. They have reached a cross road now where they will have to make some serious choices, accept the cards and fail or go to cash or checking services. The checking system has been much improved and safer with account and fund verification in place.

Go back to cash system and it would avoid these high fees altogether. By eliminating this credit card cost they can lower prices, increase profits and consumer spending.

Stop accepting plastic and they won't have to pay these credit card fees. The public will quickly adapt and put these merchants back in to business. Credit card use takes cash out of consumers pockets as well as the merchants pockets and the economy. This credit card convenience is costing our economy too much and banks are only a service that does not contribute to growth. Merchants must band together for this to happen and put money back in consumers pockets and merchant profits.

Another option is for merchants to do their own financing of goods they sell.

If you are so tired and depressed about paying these fees yourself, I suggest being grateful when a consumer chooses to pay with cash---instead of the sighing and pained looks at having to take 3 1/2 seconds to make change.

These small businesses are the backbone of our local economy. Hopefully Senators Hatch and Bennett will come to the aid of small retailers and support Senator Durban's Bill to limit these fees. Any expenses that have increased more than health care in the last ten years have to be a bit excessive. 300 % in ten years is outrageous.

Cash Discount. Merchants concerned about card fees should simply offer a discount for cash. A few gas stations already do this. It's a no-brainer.

If customers were charged the extra costs for the convenience factor, then this would adjust itself over time. People who wanted convenience would cover their costs, people who want lower costs would carry cash.

I would think Europe and maybe Japan are pretty much going cashless (although I haven't checked personally). So, how do they cover the costs?

If everybody uses credit cards then all business's should raise there prices a few percent. It is another expense to factor in like taxes and utilities. As a consumer I use credit cards that give me up to 5% cash back. I would need a cash discount to evan consider using checks.

The cash discount is fine, but if I can get the same price elsewhere & pay with plastic, I do it. I don't think they consider the expense to handle cash or the lag with checks. Credit cards are going to price themselves out of the market if they are not careful.

I wonder if debit cards have the same effect. But what's amazing is these banks charge astronomical fees, but how many banks were begging for bailouts at the first of the year again?

When I pay with a credit/debit card, the merchant is guaranteed their money, generally in about 24 hours. If I don't pay the bill, that's the BANK's problem, not the merchant's. When I pay with a check, if I bounce the check, then the merchant is out the money. Cash is expensive to handle, more time consuming for clerks, and subject to employee and outside theft. There is a value to the merchant to receiving a card payment rather than a check/cash. If there wasn't, they wouldn't pay for it. Merchants are simply seeing that this is a great time to pick on banks, because everybody hates banks right now and it's easy to make this work politically.

If "plastic" is going to become our "monetary highway system," then maybe the government should be running it rather than private companies. In the alternative, perhaps strict regulation and fee caps would do the trick. It seems like the cost per transaction should be dropping dramatically as the number of transactions increases--once the infrastructure is in place, the total costs to run the system should be fairly stable regardless of the number of transactions.

The cash discount is a terrible policy. I think it deters consumers. I for one feel like I am getting ripped off when I see that if I had cash, I wouldn't be charged as much. It just doesn't feel right to me. To be successful you have to have the customer in mind. It's like the airlines and charging for baggage. If they just added the stupid baggage fee on to the price of ticket prices and didn't tell anyone, it wouldn't be a big deal. However, by charging separately for the bags, the consumer is left unhappy. Stores should just raise their prices and not offer the cash discount.

You need to get out of the business.

To answer your question, a whopping total of two (2) Utah banks got bailout money--Zions and Medallion Bank. And what qualifies as an "astronomical" fee? I'm not a banker, but I don't think banks are forcing anyone to use their credit cards--consumers or merchants. My understanding is that merchants accept credits cards in order to help sales. And as has been noted earlier, I would be more than happy to pay with cash if the merchant would be kind enough to give me a discount--after all, it doesn't cost them as much to sell me the item, right? Instead, the price is the same, and when I do pay with cash, and there is a long line, the merchants don't like it. Especially when the clerk has trouble making change. So, in reality, it's not the bank that is ripping me off--it's my friendly neighborhood merchant. Yes, it's amazing the astronomical fees they charge me.

let put the government incharge ... great idea - NOT !
the government can't do anything cheaper or more efficently ... I know because that's who I work for. !!!

I own a small business and pay around $3,000 a month in credit card fees. I hate seeing how much it costs but when I think of the alternative which would be thousands and tens of thousands a day in cash and checks coming in for all my employees to handle I usually hope that most customers use cards. I hate seeing checks when someone is spending hundreds of dollars. Besides prices at all stores reflect the cost of doing business which includes credit card fees. Your already being charged for the credit card fees in the price of the products you may as well use it.

As a small business owner (store), I pay a lot in these fees and have had to put my foot down. I no longer accept plastic for any purchase under $10. That's because it costs me $2-$3 in fees for those processors to process the transaction. I no longer accept Amex and Discover because their fees are too high. These fees have to stop! I also offer a cash discount equivalent to what I would have to pay in fees for an over $10 purchase. I am starting to see more business owners in Utah take these types of steps, and no, I don't take paper checks either!

I read about this issue on line a couple of weeks ago. Since then I've tried to have cash on hand for my smaller merchant friends. If you talk to any of them they get really worked up about it. Yes, it's a necessary evil, but it's not helping them in a tough economy. I think there is more than one bill coming to the banking committee, and Bob Bennett is on that committee. Come on, Bob, time to step up for the locals. The big banks are taking it any way they can, from jacking interest and fees to this. I try to buy local, so I'll keep trying to keep a little cash ready.

The "moneychangers" in this country are like parasites, living off the labor of others. I pay cash. It helps out the merchants, keeps the big banks out of my business transactions, and helps to preserve my privacy.

The Chamber of Commerce's comments make me laugh. They complain loudly about government regulations when they are not in their favor, but the minute they see some advantage in regulations they are suddenly pro-government. It is a joke.

Cash transactions have their own cost. Let's not go backwards. The answer here is transparency and competition.

Debit cards are a great alternative - cheaper for the vendor and more responsible for the consumer.

make sure you use plastic...I do!