AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[TomVexille]

What the he'll 6%?

Agreed. 6% is profiteering

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Can't answer part 1, but for part 2 Caltex Woolies has the big green W under the Caltex name.

OK got it now - Woolworths non surcharge sites are the ones with the big apple peel logo at top.

 

[cmon0005]

Anyone notice KFC is a bit hit and miss with AMEX acceptance, with some stores accepting others don't?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

OK got it now - Woolworths non surcharge sites are the ones with the big apple peel logo at top.

Except for the Woolworths Caltex ones that are NOT signed with big apple peel at top of Signage but are still Woolworths Caltex - jeez need to be a rocket scientist with these dudes.

 

[kyle]

Anyone notice KFC is a bit hit and miss with AMEX acceptance, with some stores accepting others don't?

Yep, it's always been like that. Depends on the franchisee.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

Only tangentally on topic, but what incentive does a merchant have to offer Amex? Most people generally have a Visa or MC, and offering Amex results in set-up fees and higher merchant fees.

Does Amex offer something else like faster remittance of funds or is it just a much more widely accepted brand a la Diners Club (i.e. offers merchants basically the same thing as Visa and MC which they can do without and slowly start weeding out)?

 

[lovestotravel]

Only tangentally on topic, but what incentive does a merchant have to offer Amex? Most people generally have a Visa or MC, and offering Amex results in set-up fees and higher merchant fees.

Does Amex offer something else like faster remittance of funds or is it just a much more widely accepted brand a la Diners Club (i.e. offers merchants basically the same thing as Visa and MC which they can do without and slowly start weeding out)?

No incentives, besides the old-school rhetoric of an Amex customer spends more, but then the merchant knows that an Amex customer has a VI/MC anyways and will use that as a backup

I refuse to shop at places that do not accept Amex, and I let the Manager/Owner know

 

[Chicken]

Only tangentally on topic, but what incentive does a merchant have to offer Amex? Most people generally have a Visa or MC

A lot of businesses (multinationals) and government departments only issue American Express (some Diners). If you don't take these, you don't get these orders. Of course, when a staff holding these cards need to buy, they wouldn't care if you charge more but able to take their company cards, rather than they have to pay with their Visa MC up front then wait a month to claim the money.

I was in IT until few years ago, and accepted both Diners and AmEx, and I picked up all those orders because most resellers and retail IT don't take these cards.

offering Amex results in set-up fees and higher merchant fees.

This is not true either.

AmEx set up is only $90 one off.

MSF in % is higher than MSF % for standard Visa / MC, but lower than MSF % for premium Visa MC, and AmEx does not charge a ticket fee whereas many banks (not all) do.

To give you an example. If have a company AmEx, and need to buy a client lunch, total $30.

A cafe with a bank who charges ticket fee would pay say

MSF $30 x 0.8% = $0.24
Ticket fee 35c
Total for acceping Visa MC is $0.59

AmEx may charge 2%, which looks massive on paper, but
$30 x 2% = $0.6

If you try to pay with a business Visa MC, the MSF would go up to something like 2.2% + ticket fee, and the fee would skyrocket.

 

[Buzzard]

Had the opportunity to pay 6% levy on 2 pizzas last night in Circular Quay which I declined. Paid cash instead.

No Bankwest debit card cove?
I saw 10% at a Circular Quay convenience store for Opal card on any CC so went to the info centre at the Quay where there is no surcharge. 2% I could live with but 10 is daylight robbery.

 

[cmon0005]

No incentives, besides the old-school rhetoric of an Amex customer spends more, but then the merchant knows that an Amex customer has a VI/MC anyways and will use that as a backup

I refuse to shop at places that do not accept Amex, and I let the Manager/Owner know

Yes this is what I believe too, though sometimes I will not buy if they don't accept AMEX for big purchases, so some places really do miss out on $$$$$ from me if they don't accept. Some places I may use my VISA but mostly will take my business elsewhere if able.

Just look at places in Asia for example, much more small shops and merchants accept AMEX than here (based on my anecdotal experience) and hence get all the business. Australian businesses should just realise accepting all types of major cards is good for their business and ultimately CC merchant fees are just another cost of running a business, money is money.

 

[hossein_au]

No Bankwest debit card cove?
I saw 10% at a Circular Quay convenience store for Opal card on any CC so went to the info centre at the Quay where there is no surcharge. 2% I could live with but 10 is daylight robbery.

Daylight robbery is taxi fares in Australia, where they charge a flat 10% for using ANY card.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Daylight robbery is taxi fares in Australia, where they charge a flat 10% for using ANY card.

Its 5% now. At least in Victoria

 

[Chicken]

Its 5% now. At least in Victoria

Also 5% now in NSW by state government regulation.

 

[nickfromeastryde]

No figures other than my own to back up my suspicions that in Sydney at least it is getting harder to use AMEX or at least get slugged with a surcharge of between 2 and 3 per cent

 

[markis10]

No Bankwest debit card cove?
I saw 10% at a Circular Quay convenience store for Opal card on any CC so went to the info centre at the Quay where there is no surcharge. 2% I could live with but 10 is daylight robbery.

Woolies and Opal go hand in hand

 

[medhead]

Daylight robbery is taxi fares in Australia, where they charge a flat 10% for using ANY card.

Excluding GST

 

[serfty]

Excluding GST

I remember a long ago thread where it came out that the cabbage 10% did not attract a gst while cc 10% did; making it effectively 11% for cc.

 

[knasty]

Yep cabcharge managed to get a GST ruling from the ato early on which is extremely generous.

 

[medhead]

I remember a long ago thread where it came out that the cabbage 10% did not attract a gst while cc 10% did; making it effectively 11% for cc.

That sounds right. The exemption was only for cabcharge vouchers. Having a credit card processed by cabcharge is/was 11%

 

[yohy?!]

I remember a long ago thread where it came out that the cabbage 10% did not attract a gst while cc 10% did; making it effectively 11% for cc.

mmmm....cabbage