Reply to Hotel - 3% surcharge on credit cards

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It is illegal to charge a fee on any debit cards.

This is literally in every merchant agreement with all processors. I am in charge of the merchant agreements and cc processing at my job. We've changed processors loads of times to get better rates and these two main stipulations have been in every agreement: 1) you cannot charge a fee if you do not have that fee posted and 2) you cannot charge a fee on any debit cards. Businesses must eat the $0.34 interchange fee that comes with processing every card type. The interchange fee is the fee that gets applied to every card you charge, whether by swipe or manual entry. It's usually $0.34 + 3.0-3.5% of the transaction total that processors charge as a fee.

The best thing to do is call the number on the back of your debit card and give them the name and address of the business that is charging you the fee. Take a photo of the signs as well. They'll want that submitted. The bank will then go after that business and they'll almost certainly get their merchant ID cancelled and their contract with their processor canceled. [/quote]

I think you are conflating what's against THE LAW and what's against the merchant agreement.  Anyone can charge a fee if they want, legally.  Whether they will get shut down by their processor is a separate issue.[/quote]

The Durbin Amendment (part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act) prohibits surcharging debit card transactions, including prepaid cards, regardless of whether they are processed as "credit" transactions. This federal regulation caps debit card interchange fees (e.g., 21 cents plus 0.05% per transaction) and explicitly bans passing these fees to consumers via surcharges to protect consumers from additional costs.[/quote]

Can I please ask a related question? One of my favorite restaurants (locally owned) charges 3% more for credit cards. If I use my debit card, how do I get them to not charge me the 3% without getting them in trouble?[/quote]

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