Recently a supermarket chain decided that they will not accept ATM payments on purchases under 20€. If this is good for them (probably they pay less commissions), for us clients sucks because we need to carry money all the time. Does this happen where you live too?
ATM payments? Do you mean debit cards? Or credit cards? I've seen places that don't accept credit cards for smaller amounts so that they don't have to pay the credit card fees for tiny transactions. I don't mind really.
The stores have to a pay a fee for the credit/debit transactions and often it's just not worth it for them if the bill is under a certain amount. Usually $10 is the cut-off I've seen, but I wouldn't be bothered by this. I'm living in a society that is much more cash-centric than the US (as opposed to using credit cards), so perhaps I'm biased because I always need to carry cash.
Yes, I have seen this quite often in the US. I find it particularly annoying and it is mostly small businesses doing this. What they fail to realize is they are losing my business more so by implementing a policy like this. I simply avoid shopping at these places all together, so even if they may be saving on my occasional below $10 card purchases, they are losing out on all of my more expensive purchases as well. I mean, in the same train of thought, businesses often lose money by simply advertising to people. They take the hit every once in a while because overall they come out ahead in profits. They should chalk these little fees they get from time to time from a regular customer as advertising fees. I hate going in to buy a pack of smokes or a sandwich at a convenience store then having to find some other useless stuff I don't really need just to hit $10. It's too much of a hassle for the consumer.
I don't think I mind the stores that do this, I always carry cash on me, but even if you don't you just need to stop by an ATM before you go to the store. I've even seen stores that do this that have an ATM inside the shop! That way the most inconvenience you have is taking 2 minutes to go withdraw some money.
I mean debit cards sorry. I think it's really annoying because sometimes you get to pay 19,15€ and you need to use money. Bad luck, you only have 15€ so off you go to the ATM machine withdraw some money and back to the cashier where everyone is waiting for you. And for what, for them to pay less taxes. Come on!
