# minimum $ purchases to use credit card - legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107 "2004-10-07T22:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/61 "2004-10-09T01:18:31Z")
> [@Voodoochile](#): > > Its not the CC companies that force merchants to accept CCs, its consumers. Nooo, not exactly. Contrary to popular myth, us consumers are puppets. CC (and debit card) issuers create the need. That’s one of the first tenets of business. They once said “find a need and fill it”, but if that’s all they did we wouldn’t have fast food, would we? Or StayFree minipads. I’m _not_ talking tin-hat conspiracy stuff, just that Madison Avenue (or it’s current incarnation) does it’s job very well. Consumers. Yeah, right. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/62 "2004-10-09T01:25:05Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I’m interested to know whether these MasterCard and Visa rules are global, or only for the US. In the UK, minimum transactions for both debit _and_ credit cards are common - £5 is common but even £10 is not unusual. I have never heard of this being illegal in this country. There again, I think we’re more coin-friendly than the US - most people carry plenty of change around with them for small purchases. In France too, there’s a minimum for using CC or debit cards. Usually 15 €. However, since last year or so, I noticed that several large stores accepted cards for any amount. That’s a novelty, and smaller bussinesses still don’t. Even if the rules were global, they would have been unenforceable in a country like France where no bussiness accepted plastic for small payments. VISA can’t go against the will of _all_ its customers (the business owners). Besides, this could be regulated by a law, allowing bussinesses to refuse small payments with a CC. In which case global or not, the rules couldn’t apply. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/63 "2004-10-09T01:31:43Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > Merchants are free to accept only cash. Many of them do that today. > > If you want the benefits, and added business, of a merchant account, you have to meet certain standards and abide by the rules of the card issuer. I often read complaints about charge-backs and rates. I don’t read many complaints about the additional sales generated by accepting credit cards. But the merchant _pays_ for the service. The merchant is the customer of the CC company. Other suppliers have gotten legal grief over threatening to pull their product if the merchant didn;t “toe the line”. I don’t know of even one convenience store or corner grocery (nowadays) that doesn’t accept cards. Not one. The liquor store/food mart on the corner does, both debit and credit. I just checked. Ask a small-time merchant how they were handled when they told the CC rep that they didn’t need to accept cards. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/64 "2004-10-09T01:38:30Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > But the merchant _pays_ for the service. The merchant is the customer of the CC company. The card holder is also a customer of the credit card company. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/65 "2004-10-09T02:02:08Z")
FTR, down here, McDonald’s charges no fee for credit or debit cards. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/66 "2004-10-09T03:14:35Z")
> [@Doctor Jackson](#): > > That said, I’m in a business now where price is negotiated. If I find out that you plan to pay with a CC (and I will ask how you plan to pay), my bottom dollar price goes up 5%. Interesting. Would I ask for a cash discount? Should I ask if that makes a difference? ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/67 "2004-10-09T03:17:17Z")
> [@BillClay](#): > > Was there an answer to the question of why schools and the IRS are allowed to charge an additional fee for taking a credit card? Have they just negotiated a different deal with Visa/MC than other institutions? I once paid for a summer school class I took and got a 10% discount for using a credit card. I presume that the default rate was so high that using a credit card guaranteed them the cash and were willing to take a hit to guarantee more of those sales. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/68 "2004-10-09T07:06:23Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Ask a small-time merchant how they were handled when they told the CC rep that they didn’t need to accept cards. How were they handled? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Voodoochile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/898d66/32.png) [@Voodoochile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voodoochile)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/69 "2004-10-09T08:11:47Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Nooo, not exactly. Contrary to popular myth, us consumers are puppets…Consumers. Yeah, right. 😉 Well, you may be a puppet. Oh wait, I forgot, we’re all a bunch of sheep being mindlessly led around by the brutal capitalist overlords laaa dee doo daa. The strings attached to me must be broke; Ive never had a credit card. When I was poor, I couldnt get one; now Im well off and I dont need one. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/70 "2004-10-09T14:53:52Z")
Wait… I’m missing the controversy here. Apparently, both Visa and MC stipulate that the merchants may not charge a fee or set a minimum balance. Thus, business owners should not be able to do the same. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/71 "2004-10-09T17:24:32Z")
> [@Voodoochile](#): > > The strings attached to me must be broke; Ive never had a credit card. When I was poor, I couldnt get one; now Im well off and I dont need one. Huh? _Bill Gates_ needs a Credit Card. You need it for buying things on line or by phone, and it is just about required to travel- hotels, arifare, car rentals… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/72 "2004-10-09T18:28:00Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > The card holder is also a customer of the credit card company. Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/73 "2004-10-09T18:39:02Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > How were they handled? 😕 They were told, quite firmly, that if they didn’t accept cards they would lose their business, and that even customers who usually pay cash would go somewhere else because they might occasionally use a debit card. People tend to habituate to a specific convenience store. I only know of one couple first hand. Maybe a merchant on this thread has been through the experience of refusing to accept cards? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/74 "2004-10-09T18:46:58Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > Wait… I’m missing the controversy here. Apparently, both Visa and MC stipulate that the merchants may not charge a fee or set a minimum balance. Thus, business owners should not be able to do the same. The controversy is that many merchants go ahead ans set mimimun card purchases anyway, and I happily patronize them. I aid and abet. Good point, mangeorge! If setting minimuns were illegal, customers using a card where minimums are set would be partners in that crime. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107/75 "2004-10-09T19:40:08Z")
So I need to go find a store that decides that a min purchase is necessary, and bring a copy of the merchant’s agreement with me. And buy a piece of gum/pack of gum with a credit card. And buy a piece of gum/pack of gum with a credit card. And buy a piece of gum/pack of gum with a credit card. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-purchases-to-use-credit-card-legal/268107.md?page=3)