I’ve known about it for quite a few years now, but only because the arena I previously worked in had their PDQs switched over and being the person who signed them off at the end of the night I had access to the info booklet that came with them so I could learn the new processes.
I’ve always found it odd that the rules on minimum values aren’t better communicated to the people it matters to… The people actually buying stuff with their cards!
As noted by @ntaylor3 it isn’t ‘perfectly fine’ - it’s just not a criminal matter. I will clarify that it is illegal as it’s a violation of a contract - civil law. It isn’t a criminal law matter, though, like surcharging is.
If you surcharge, you can be prosecuted by the Crown. If you have a minimum, Mastercard can sue you or take away your right to process Mastercard transactions (btw, this was true of surcharges even before they became a criminal matter). Both are illegal, but with very different potential consequences.
Shops, as we saw with surcharging and also see with forcing DCC, are happy to violate the Mastercard Rules to their heart’s content, knowing the police can’t do anything and Mastercard is unlikely to sue. But that doesn’t make it ‘perfectly fine’.
Generally fine then 
I’m quite happy for small shops to require a minimum spend for card purchases. Most of the ones near me are £3-5 anyway.
It bugs me to the point that I just stop going to places with a limit. Why should I carry cash just for the pleasure of giving it to them.
Agreed, and it hurts other small businesses. If I have a choice between a big chain and a local shop, I’ll pick the big chain as there isn’t the risk I’ll get to the front, go to pay, be told no, you’re not spending enough, and have to walk out.
In reference to the localPost Office not accepting Monzo
They don’t trust MasterCard?
If the payment was chip and PIN they get paid even with fraud, if swipe and sign it is on them I believe which is why places like France ask for photo ID for card use.
This rule may of changed however.
Asking for photo ID is:
I was very interested to learn here that minimum payments violate the card issuer’s rules and even more interested to learn that there is a mechanism for reporting violations. Be interesting to see if they react to such reports from consumers.
My local cafe has just installed iZettle and the charges are 1.75% on debit card transactions. There is no minimum payment here and the business is about as small as they get. As far as the owner is concerned, it could not be justified based on a percentage charge.
Any time I’ve questioned a minimum payment I get told something like there is a 50p charge for the transaction and if true you could understand the need for a minimum. But it is not true and if it was they need to find another provider. They do exist.
A flat 50p for a transaction sounds unlikely.
AFAIK iZettle and Square charge 1.75% with no additional flat charge (although Square at least has a £1 minimum on the transaction amount).
iZettle also has a built in £1 minimum for card transactions but there are no flat rate fees just the 1.75% which is ideal for businesses with multiple purchase customers (such as a cafe).
Could be a coincidence, but the campus Premier I use has taken down their prominent £5 minimum spend signs after a few months of persistent reporting to Mastercard. I got through a £4-something transaction but I haven’t tried it with my £1 milk spend.
But to be honest their card setup is so bad it negates any benefit.
It happened to me when I tried to pay for items I shopped for, not the post office services. The cashier said something like they’re treating it like an ATM withdrawal service therefore my Monzo card could not work “because it’s a prepaid card” (NO, it’s the current account debit card) and asked me to use another high street bank card, or I can just go to the ATM at the door to withdraw cash. That sub-till also isn’t equipped with contactless, but I didn’t mind. I was just very confused why there could be 2 different payment system within one place like that. Unfortunately it was too long ago so I couldn’t email a report in specific to Monzo.
Report what? ‘A shop that doesn’t take Mastercard didn’t take Mastercard’? It sounds to me like the shop, unlike the actual post office part, doesn’t take Mastercard. Only a theory, of course, but based on what they said about ‘like an ATM’ and the fact they don’t take contactless strongly suggests to me they just don’t accept Visa/Mastercard period.
I have never been asked for Photo ID in France or any other EU country in order to pay by debit or credit card, the only one I have been asked for ID is the USA…
Guess what? They DO take my other MasterCard, that’s why Monzo’s merchant acceptance department is relevant in this case. Stop reading 1 particular post without referring to what the whole context/discussion is about.
Does your other Mastercard also have the LINK app? I suspect they do not take Mastercard.
Please let’s keep the tone of conversation polite here and exercise generosity towards one another 
Sorry @yen I sure didn’t mean to be impolite. Tone can be hard to tell from messages. Just trying to point out that it sounds like they’re doing cash transactions on LINK for the shop and don’t take major networks. Based on the fact they say it’s like an ATM. All meant in good spirits.
No offence, but not being able to use a debit card in 1 or 2 stores (most noticeably the post office I use like once a year) wouldn’t put me off going full monzo…
I mean my local post office is still so old fashioned (and I live in Manchester, so hardly a small place) that it doesn’t even take card payment… You have to use the free to withdraw cash machine inside the post office 
FYI I went full Monzo 6 months ago and its the best decision I ever made, I have savings for the first time in my life 
Maybe less old fashioned and more wanting to keep all of the cash and not pay card fees.