Minimum Card Payment Charges

Following on from the discussion about card return alerts, share your experience with merchants who require an additional payment if the transaction amount is under a certain threshold here.

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I’ve not found any retailer with a minimum card charge for at least the last 3/4 years

Come to Edinburgh, then. There are plenty of cafés and take-aways with minimum card amounts, or card charges. (There are also plenty without.) :slight_smile:

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A bunch of Polish shops that I regularly visit near me have a £5 minimum card spend… grocers, deli and café.

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maybe not in London perhaps but out in Essex there are lots where I live (if they have a card machine at all)

I live in Bedfordshire and we never really had any shops with a minimum card charge. They either accept card or they don’t, no middle bit with a certain charge etc

Near me nearly every corner shop charges, the chicken shops charge, pizza shops etc all charge 50p (unless they are a chain), and Just Eat charges and I live just near Heathrow,

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Must just be the area I live in then!

There are plenty of pubs in London with minimums

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I’ve always operated minimum card spends, but I’ve stopped them as of today. We pay a percentage fee for each translation, rather than a flat fee (which is what is used to be), so it’s just not required anymore.

Thanks for spurring me on to make the change.

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some terminal providers operate a tiered scale of charges, so even though a percentage is paid it is still higher on lower value transactions than high value ones.

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Ah interesting. Ours is just a fixed percentage regardless of what the amount is.

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Every small shop and pub in my area charges at least 50p per transaction if spending under £5. In some they add £1 to the transaction for purchases of tobacco and alcohol. I am certain these charges are prohibited by the card schemes but who is going to complain…

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I’d really like to know where these places are that still do this! I live in Bedfordshire which is still fairly rural and we haven’t got anywhere that does this. The only thing they sometimes do, is put an extra charge for credit cards but never for debit cards/Monzo. The only place that used to do this near me was poundland but they stopped doing this 3/4 years ago

Greenford, west London, £5 minimum spend in a parade of shops which I believe may all be owned by one group. Not rural at all.

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Weird! I wouldn’t shop at a place that does this to be honest

All Polish shops and café. The lunchtime specials at the café are amazing, all freshly prepared and cooked with love at very reasonable prices. We go there every Friday, and the grocers does a lovely sourdough bread which they call granny bread, which again is to die for when toasted. The deli shop has a great selection of meats and cheeses and they always let me try a piece before buying.
No way I could boycott these stores, it would be like cutting my nose to spite my face :joy:

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Couple of newsagents in the Aldgate area charge extra for all card transactions. I don’t bother going there unless I’ve got some change.

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There is a bar near my office that charge 40p per transaction regardless of the cost.

Corner shop near my house 50p under £5

I live near Heathrow airport so not rural

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There are a lot of shops with a £5 minimum in Walthamstow, Northeast London area, and out in Essex in Colchester and Braintree areas again a £5 minimum. Some shops have a 50p charge to use cards. Some have both the minimum and the charge.