Did you know that the business cannot do that? It's a major violation of a Mastercard/VISA agreement which the business is required to sign, which also allows for fees/fines and other sanctions if the rules are violated. Basically, if a business displays a Mastercard/VISA logo, it's an acceptance of ALL the rules that go along with it.
The rule is found in Section 1.8--"Honoring Cards" of the Mastercard and VISA Acceptance portion of the Merchant Processing Agreement. It reads:
1.8 Honoring Cards--
You cannot establish minimum or maximum amounts as a condition for accepting a Card.
I recently got into it with a business down here that had a $10 minimum amount. I intended to purchase $5.30 worth of stuff with my debit card and ran afoul of that company's policy. They let me do the $5.30 purchase after I threatened to leave and call Mastercard immediately to report them. As I was leaving, I saw them take down their $10 minimum sign.
Yesterday, I went back in and noticed that they had put the sign back up. So I'm debating whether to call Mastercard and carry out my original threat. I probably should.
Here's how the system works from the business side:
If a customer uses a credit card, the merchant pays a small fee for that transaction.
If a customer uses a debit card, the merchant doesn't have a fee. So merchants LIKE debit cards because it doesn't cost them anything extra.
The establishment where I work has no minimum or maximum amount because the owner read the entire agreement and accepts the fees as part of the cost of doing business. All businesses should have that same attitude.
You cannot establish minimum or maximum amounts as a condition for accepting a Card.
I recently got into it with a business down here that had a $10 minimum amount. I intended to purchase $5.30 worth of stuff with my debit card and ran afoul of that company's policy. They let me do the $5.30 purchase after I threatened to leave and call Mastercard immediately to report them. As I was leaving, I saw them take down their $10 minimum sign.
Yesterday, I went back in and noticed that they had put the sign back up. So I'm debating whether to call Mastercard and carry out my original threat. I probably should.
Here's how the system works from the business side:
If a customer uses a credit card, the merchant pays a small fee for that transaction.
If a customer uses a debit card, the merchant doesn't have a fee. So merchants LIKE debit cards because it doesn't cost them anything extra.
The establishment where I work has no minimum or maximum amount because the owner read the entire agreement and accepts the fees as part of the cost of doing business. All businesses should have that same attitude.
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