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4 ways to know if a merchant is charging a fee for credit card transactions
Consumer advocates are reminding shoppers to look out for merchants that impose credit card surcharges. Merchants must meet certain requirements if they impose a surcharge on credit card purchases: • Retailers must post a notice at the entrance of their stores and at the point of sale. • The retailer has to disclose the surcharge percentage and explain the fact that the charge is being imposed by the retailer (not the credit card company) and does not exceed the amount the retailer pays to accept credit cards. • Receipts need to show the dollar amount of the surcharge. • Online merchants must alert consumers that a surcharge will be imposed on the webpage where credit cards are first mentioned. “The rule of thumb is this – you can’t gouge your customers, and you can’t hide the fees,” said Trish Wexler, spokeswoman for the Electronic Payments Coalition, which represents banking and financial institutions, including Visa … Continue reading
The illegal debit card fees that just won’t die
Some gas stations, convenience stores and other merchants are illegally charging fees for debit card users, as well as putting minimum purchase amounts on customers who use the bank cards, according to a new report. A January settlement of a class-action lawsuit allowed merchants to start adding “checkout fees” on customers who pay with credit cards, but it exempted debit card users. Despite this, some merchants still hit debit card users, GoBankingRates.com reports. So what should you do if you’ve been charged an illegal fee? If you live in one of those states that outlaw credit card processing fees, Visa encourages you to report the retailer to your state attorney general’s office. Consumers hit with minimum purchases or surcharges on debit cards should also call the customer service number on the back of their cards, the report says. That’s because banks that issue the cards will report violations to Visa or MasterCard.
Swipe-Fee Settlement Objectors Spared Contempt Finding
U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn, New York, today said he would “give the benefit of the doubt” to trade associations opposing the agreement and told them they should better police the websites for misstatements. “I think there’s a powerful incentive for the objectors to be sure they’re not basing their argument on ground that’s not so firm,” Gleeson said. Gleeson said on April 11 that the sites contained “bad information” that may have persuaded some merchants to drop out of the settlement and he ordered the groups to make corrections. One of the sites, Merchantsobject.com, continued to “obfuscate” key points as of April 24, the judge said in a written order that day.
Judge threatens trade groups with contempt in card-fee pact
A federal judge has taken the unusual step of threatening to hold retail trade groups in contempt for a website urging merchants to reject a proposed $7.2 billion settlement with Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc over credit card fees.
Judge in U.S. credit-card fees case assails critics’ website
A U.S. judge on Thursday scolded retail trade groups for creating websites urging millions of fellow merchants to reject a proposed $7.2 billion settlement with Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc over credit card fees. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson singled out the merchantsobject.com website of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), which tells merchants to “take action” and says their options are to “opt out” or “object.” He said the wording of the websites could prompt merchants to think that accepting a settlement was not an option. “It’s not fair,” Gleeson said during a 15-minute hearing in Brooklyn federal court prompted by a complaint from the lead class counsel for a proposed class of 8 million merchants. “It’s completely misleading.” He gave the lawyers for pro- and anti-settlement retailers one week to submit proposals on appropriate relief. He said he would not order the sites be taken down but … Continue reading
Judge Orders Merchant Trade Groups To Correct Swipe-Fee Websites
A federal judge on Thursday ordered merchant trade groups to correct information on websites intended to drum up retailer opposition to a multi-billion-dollar class-action settlement with Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and several large banks. At a hearing in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Judge John Gleeson said the groups in question, which are plaintiffs in suits against the payment networks, must add a banner to their websites stating that Judge Gleeson has determined prior information on the sites to be misleading, according to people who attended the hearing. They must also include a link to a court-approved website with information about the settlement.
Visa, MasterCard Judge Orders Changes on Swipe-Fee Sites
Websites critical of a settlement that Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. reached with retailers over so-called swipe fees are misleading and must be corrected, a federal judge ruled. The sites contain “bad information” that may have caused some retailers to drop out of the settlement, U.S. District Judge John Gleeson said today in Brooklyn, New York. He gave the parties a week to decide on changes. “I’m not going to belabor this with you,” Gleeson told Jeffrey Shinder, a lawyer representing retail trade associations that created the sites and have opposed the settlement. “I’m just talking about basic fairness.”
Judge Slaps Down Retail Groups Over Swipe-Fee Websites
A federal judge ordered retail trade groups Thursday to make changes to websites that seek to persuade merchants to oppose a proposed settlement over credit card swipe fees. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson ruled that the websites present a biased view of the facts and, in turn, may have caused some retailers to oppose the settlement. During a hearing in Brooklyn, New York, Gleeson gave the parties a week to make changes to the sites.
Will you pay more to use your credit card?
Retailers and some consumer advocates argue card fees are built into retail prices already. If that’s true, people who pay in cash feel the biggest bite; those who use rewards cards, on the other hand, get some of that dough back.
Margin calls
Clamping down on payday loans would make more sense if regulators had not made it harder for retail banks to serve low-income Americans. The Durbin amendment—passed as part of the Dodd-Frank act in July 2010—capped interchange fees, the commission that merchants pay, on debit cards. One year earlier Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (Credit CARD Act), which reduced interest-rate increases and late fees on credit cards. The CFPB is also looking at overdraft fees. Add in persistently low interest rates, which have eaten into banks’ net interest margins, and the economics of banking the poor is far less attractive than it was.
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