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. 
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.
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.
The card holder is also a customer of the credit card company.
FTR, down here, McDonald’s charges no fee for credit or debit cards.
Interesting. Would I ask for a cash discount? Should I ask if that makes a difference?
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.
How were they handled? 
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.
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.
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:
Yeah.
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?
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.
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.