TeamCushman

Tip of the week …

No, I’m not going to start charging for access to the site, although a good friend thinks I should. Every once in a while, I see a restaurant or merchant who requires a minimum purchase, say $20, $10 or even $5, to use Visa or MasterCard. What I never realized is that this is a direct violation of their merchant agreement. Both Visa and MasterCard require merchants to accept their cards regardless of the size of payment. Some merchants may not have seen this addendum to their agreement. In fact, according to Visa, 55% of usage is now considered “Micropayments” or those under $25.

So, the next time a restaurant or other stores try to force you to use cash rather than your Visa or MasterCard, ask to speak to the manager and remind them about the policy. Yes, they will argue. Mainly because the percentage of the merchant fee is larger for smaller purchases. Just hold your ground and let them know that you will call Visa at 800-VISA-911. They want to know stores that do not follow this rule. Those that won’t could get hit with a penalty, so that merchant fee they are worried about, could get bigger.