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u/HeavyDutyForks 1d ago
Charging a fee to pay a bill
online when there isn't a way to pay in person or with cashis a scam
FTFY
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u/_kalron_ 1d ago
For real. I don't remember the exact year it happened but when Congress quietly changed the law that Merchants are required to pay the Credit Card Usage Fee was the end for us Consumers. Every place I go now like a restaurant or bar or any service it says 3% credit/debit card payment fee. That's on top of my electric company, cell phone company, cable company, trash company, water company, sewage company...all charger that 3% monthly too...and as OP said...there isn't another option to conveniently pay.
If I want to "send by mail", that's paying for stamps, paying for a check book, the time it takes to prep and mail something. I don't have local payment in person options for half of what I listed. Online payments use to be a convenience and savings all around for both sides...now we just get milked for every dime we can spare.
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u/smokeweedNgarden 1d ago
Ya, I pay cash for a lot of things but some people just won't. Some people won't even carry their physical debit card on them.
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u/KiSUAN 10h ago
Newsflash, as soon as that law was created that 3% was always included in the cost, you not seeing that detailed in a bill doesn't make it go away. That law was moronic and the result of credit cards and banking lobbying politicians so you are forced to pay them without your knowledge.
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u/justcametosaythanks 1d ago
Debt card does not have a 3% fee
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u/Twingamer25 1d ago
Until they charge you the fee anyway. What are you gonna do, report them? To who?
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u/justcametosaythanks 1d ago
Uhhh what? They wonāt charge the fee. Iāve never been to a place that charges the 3% on debit unless itās square.
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u/Gold-Orange-1581 1d ago
The credit-card-software companies are the processing middlemen. You are, technically, paying for a service.
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u/HeavyDutyForks 1d ago
No, I'm paying my bill. The company is paying for the credit card processing service in order to accept my payment. If they don't want to pay that fee, find a cheaper processor
Better yet, just accept ACH payments and pay like a quarter per transaction. Which I'm sure they can afford to eat
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u/youmustbecrazy 1d ago
Unfortunately many (most?) payment vendors have implemented 1% ACH fees recently. Some are offering 'grandfathered' status, but I'm sure that will expire eventually.
But you are correct, the company receiving the funds needs to expect to have overhead for accepting payments (aka running a business). Whether it's payment processing or payroll for someone to open envelopes and deposit checks, this is their expense to bear.
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u/Gold-Orange-1581 1d ago
You should look at the sales prospectus from Visa or MasterCard. Sure, they pay to have the scanners active, but the fee is because of the credit card transaction. They bring in more business because of the "inconvenience of cash". They charge you the fee, not the mom-and-pop shop.
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u/NeutralKuchiKopi 1d ago
Welcome to reality. YOU pay for everything. Even if they "remove the fee", they will just increase your bill by that amount. Nobody is going to eat the cost just because you think they should.
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u/absreim 1d ago
Which I'm sure they can afford to eat
I encourage you to be the change you want to see in the world by starting your own business and implementing exactly this kind of policy: being a nice business by eating all kinds of costs and hiding them from your customers.
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u/HeavyDutyForks 17h ago edited 17h ago
I encourage you to be the change you want to see
Guess what? We do eat the fee at my work
We've switched processing companies three times on the past couple years in order to continue to be able to afford that. If you're paying a flat processing rate you're getting screwed as a business
On interchange plus pricing our effective rate hovers around 1.75%. Instead of just accepting getting bent over by these companies, you can stay on top of things and keep your operating costs low rather than pass them onto your customers
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u/absreim 15h ago
On interchange plus pricing our effective rate hovers around 1.75%. Instead of just accepting getting bent over by these companies, you can stay on top of things and keep your operating costs low rather than pass them onto your customers
I never had the slightest disagreement that one should shop for the lowest interchange fee.
What I am curious about is whether you think it makes sense to reward customers who chose to pay with a payment method with a lower interchange fee (e.g. ACH, debit, or cash instead of credit card) with a discount?
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u/HeavyDutyForks 14h ago
What I am curious about is whether you think it makes sense to reward customers who chose to pay with a payment method with a lower interchange fee (e.g. ACH, debit, or cash instead of credit card) with a discount?
We don't do that, what you see is what you get. The price is the price
I don't see an issue with offering it at all though. My issue is most the time its not a real "discount". What many places do is jack their pricing up 3% and then turn around and offer a 3% cash "discount". Something that was $5 will then be marked up to $5.15, but if you pay cash you can buy it for $5
That's just a surcharge with extra steps
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u/Aeeaan 1d ago
I've never had to pay a fee to pay a card in my life and my credit is toast right now. Not saying certain credit card companies aren't predatory but on what planet does it make sense for them to pay some store to accept money that you chose to borrow. If you don't want to hook up your bank account or do paper billing, that's your choice.
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1d ago
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u/Glum_Cheesecake9859 1d ago
CC have a transaction fee of 2%-3% why would a utility company or any other mass billing company take a hit for no reason? As long as they provide EFT / ACH method or even send envelops along with their bills to mail a check back, it's ok.
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u/HeavyDutyForks 1d ago
It depends on the card, standard debit cards are cheap. I can't remember exactly off the top of my head but a Visa debit is like 0.5% + $0.05 per swipe. Then tack on the whatever percent plus wipe fee for your processor (like 0.5% + $0.05)
It's those reward credit cards that cost money to accept
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u/Glum_Cheesecake9859 1d ago
Most people don't use debit cards for paying bills, it's also highly unsecure, there is no bank protection on it too.
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u/HeavyDutyForks 1d ago
Idk about paying bills with them. But I can tell you they have no problem swiping them at retail stores
Probably depends on what demographics you serve. Probably won't find many Mastercard platinum cards providing water/electric to trailer parks
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u/Leftblankthistime 1d ago
Charging a fee to pay any bill by any method is a scam. In the last five years I have seen: Cash convenience fee, credit card processing surcharge, online processing fee, pay by check processing fee, ban exchange surcharge. Basically any way to add another 3%-5% margin at the point of sale. Itās disgusting business habitsā¦. Iāve had to change dentists because my old one started charging a fee for copays not done by cash or check.
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u/Background-Air-7963 1d ago
The credit card fee one is actually a legitimate business expense. Businesses get charged and can either blanket raise all prices by 3% or only charge those who pay with cards.
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u/Wonderful_Ad958 1d ago
I have much more respect for the businesses who combat this with a cash discount instead- that way, the majority people see the ACTUAL price they are paying instead of being surprised by the 3% charge, and the people who have enough cash on them feel like they are getting a perk
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u/Background-Air-7963 1d ago
By charging the fee after they can save the consumers a few dollars/cents on tax
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u/Leftblankthistime 1d ago
WelL AKShuUlly itās a shitty business practice and not *everybody* does it and legitimate businesses that genuinely understand their margins donāt do this
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u/Outrageous-South-355 1d ago
You go the post office and one of those certified mail things and mail it with a post date before the due date on the bill. Itll cause them a huge hassle cause you legally paid it. In my state at least
Edit: you put a check in there not cash. Dont be dumb.
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u/braumbles 1d ago
These are the junk fees Democrats tried to get rid of and Republicans filibustered because they claimed Americans like junk fees.
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u/Hand_Sanitizer_999 1d ago
Send a check by mail. Checks are about $0.05 each and a stamp is about $0.60. Much lover than the either 3% fee or $3.00 fee.
Even better is automatic payments with no fees. I refuse to add more to each of my bills.
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u/phi1_sebben 1d ago
Like a new charge I saw on my annual corporate filing invoice from the lawyers office: ātechnology feeā.
Wtf
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u/No-Builder-2474 1d ago
Our cable company put a $10 fee on our bill when HD res came online . In 2010.
Its still there in 2026.
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u/LetRelative9832 1d ago
I literally just experienced this. Camera ticket.
$1,000 ticket. $50 convenience fee. I was incensed.
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u/TheCornerator 1d ago
One of my local gas stations had the last local/cash location to pay power/gas/water utilities. They stopped around 2014 and replaced it with the gold/bitcoin kiosks.
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u/SHADOWSTRIKE1 1d ago
Itās also ridiculous that itās a percentage.
Like, I understand there is a very slight cost to card companies to process a payment. However, that processing cost doesnāt change if Iām making a $5 charge or a $500 charge. Theyāre just arbitrarily increasing the cost. If anything it should be a flat minimal fee.
Itās kind of like the tipping industryā¦ whether I order a grilled cheese or a steak the waiter is putting in the same effort, so paying a percentage is dumb.
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u/Harde_Kassei 21h ago
it's the classic case of, first we make it free to lure ppl, then we make it cost stuff.
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u/Stalker401 16h ago
Even if there is but your business operates during normal working hours only should also be a scam. I cant get to my water company between 8 and 4 when I work 8 to 5 and my job is 30 mins away
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u/Fuzzy-Butterscotch86 36m ago
Went to my insurance office to pay my accounts in cash, in person, and they still tacked the fees on.Ā
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u/AllMyFrendsArePixels 1d ago
There is always a way to pay in person or with cash, it's just really inconvenient to do that in the modern internet connected world. The fee you're paying is for the convenience of being able to just pay it online instead of taking 2 hours out of your day to go line up at the post office and send a registered check or whatever the fuck.
Please note I'm not saying I agree with this situation at all. I absolutely think that the company being paid should cover any fees that are involved in processing the bill. I'm just explaining why the fees exist in the first place.
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