[Cthulhu_]

I've mainly seen it in small businesses - e.g. food vendors - but instead they charge extra for using electronic payment methods. Also to offset the costs they're making on offering it I suspect, but it does encourage people to pay with cash.

[graemep]

> but instead they charge extra for using electronic payment methods.

That is illegal in the UK. That is why many trades people here will accept bank transfers but not cards.

[marysol5]

Even "minimum charge on card" is against VISA/MC rules. But it's still around.

[graemep]

Varies between countries, and card company rules are not quite as threatening as actual laws.

[gambiting]

>> and card company rules are not quite as threatening as actual laws

Well, they are plenty threatening in the sense that if you don't follow them, they will refuse doing business with you, which suddenly means you can't accept cards at all, which can kill a business entirely.

[Gigachad]

A card tx fee of around 1% is common. At 10% it’s tax evasion.

[AnthonyMouse]

If you sell items for $5 and the card charges e.g. 2.9% + $0.30, that's >11%.

On top of that, merchants carry the risk of chargeback fraud or stolen cards, and in some industries that can be another double digit percentage by itself.