AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[TomVexille]

Sushi places seem to be one of the most likely to be cash only near me-no idea why

I have that issue with dumpling restaurants

 

[albyd]

I imagine many restaurant businesses are not entirely honest with declaring their income to the ATO. Whilst not having any experience of this myself, I imagine it's harder to "forget" to declare income if you've received it electronically.

 

[TomVexille]

I imagine many restaurant businesses are not entirely honest with declaring their income to the ATO. Whilst not having any experience of this myself, I imagine it's harder to "forget" to declare income if you've received it electronically.

It's why the uptake at the (still being constucted) "New" Melbourne Markets is dreadful. No more cash. It's all electronic.

 

[scwappy]

I no longer seem to be able to use the "pay Wave" functionality of my AMEX at my local Coles and am required to sign for everything. Is anyone else having the issue? It's very annoying not even been able to use the PIN and maybe it's a ploy to actively discourage AMEX use?

 

[albyd]

It's happened to me twice this week at Coles with my platinum edge. First time they said must've been because link to the bank was down. Sounds like that wasn't what happened.

 

[ajd]

Shout out to the (non-chain) cafe next to my office, which accepts Amex with no minimums, no surcharges, fully functional Amex ExpressPay (PayWave), and a one-free-per-10-coffees loyalty card...

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Sounds like wholesale .. or discount web sales and if so these businesses rely upon massive, absolutely staggering volume. I'm in IT as well and got out of hardware years ago, I couldn't maintain the volume required. If shops can exist (somehow) on 5-10% more power to them.




Surely the larger clients will want to pay against account in 30-60 days? More commonly these days, 30 days after end of month. I know I do for my larger suppliers. Sometimes a supplier who is cold calling for business will offer such terms but with a monthly account keeping charge ... I just laugh. My point in raising this is that those 30-60 days aren't free for the merchant. You may get an EFT transfer at day 60, but up till then its cost you money. I'd suggest far better off encouraging business customers to pay immediately with CC.




I use a corporate Amex and won't be doing any funky or weird things to pay. As the customer I have myriad choices of supplier, including from overseas (none of the overseas suppliers even bat an eyelid at Amex ... its all good and no surcharge)

One-off suppliers that fill a need on the day will occasionally bite me with a 'no amex' or CC surcharge, but its the last time they will see me. As Coriander says above, if losing 1,000's or 10,000's in gross revenue against the 2% or 3% cost of gaining this revenue is part of their business plan... well, thats fine, fine for them, fine for me - I'm going to spend the money regardless, but someone else will see that revenue - and I certainly wouldn't deny a business needs to make money. If a deal is going to cost money (not make it!) then sure, both parties need to walk away.




What about the cost of dealing with cash? Or tracking those EFT payments? This costs time, therefore money. This is what is meant by 'cost of business'. I'd far prefer a customer of mine to pay by CC than to give me a wad of cash (for example).

Australian businesses are fond of the CC surcharge, but, interestingly, at the same time, Australian customers are _extremely_ sensitive to paying those surcharges. You can see just how sensitive any time you line up somewhere to pay for something and see the interactions of the merchant and the customer around this subject.

The weird thing is that up until the last 15 years or so you couldn't charge these surcharges, I believe it was against the law. I remember the new recommendations (or was it law???) coming in, and everyone jumped on board immediately, an easy grab for a few more percentiles. But, as we ponder the past, how did the slim margin businesses survive prior to the allowance of CC surcharging? On 4-5-6-7%???

The hardware we sell is merely a value add to our services.

Our customers are contractually required to pay in 14 days, otherwise incur interest.

I am not required to accept credit cards at all, and as all my customers are businesses, that seems to suit them. If one customer (usually of the small irritating variety) wishes to pay by credit card, we pass on the cost. If we said no cards, they'd still pay us by EFT.

As for getting it faster, clients pay by credit card on the due date, so it makes absolutely no difference to cash flow.

All businesses are different, however.

Our large suppliers take Visa/MC without surcharge so we pay using that method. All of them have surcharges for Amex between 2 and 3.5%, so we don't use it.

We also have no problem dealing with EFT payments, our invoices have the reference numbers and all clients use them. This costs us nothing, as the bank feed comes into the finance system and the payments automatically reconcile.

Amex is actually harder as they send you a lump sum net of fees and you have to log in to get a report and work out the breakdown, then translate that into the finance system. The Visa/MC come in individually and the fees come out separately, making it much simpler to reconcile.

 

[Chicken]

Amex is actually harder as they send you a lump sum net of fees and you have to log in to get a report and work out the breakdown, then translate that into the finance system. The Visa/MC come in individually and the fees come out separately, making it much simpler to reconcile.

They switched it to exactly like the bank already, so you get your full taking, then pay them back their fees at the end of the month.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

They switched it to exactly like the bank already, so you get your full taking, then pay them back their fees at the end of the month.

When did this happen? Perhaps it's an option we need to take up as I don't think that's how we get it.

Makes sense though.

A customer wanted an ecommerce setup using Stripe, but when we advised they get paid net of fees and they hold the money for 7 days, the client decided it wasn't for them.

 

[Chicken]

When did this happen? Perhaps it's an option we need to take up as I don't think that's how we get it.

It's not automatic, but you can ask to be switched. There is no fee for this option. I got a letter in the mail earlier this year or something like that.

A customer wanted an ecommerce setup using Stripe, but when we advised they get paid net of fees and they hold the money for 7 days, the client decided it wasn't for them.

They never held our money for 7 days. Our EFTPOS terminal had settlement programmed at 6PM, and AmEx always clear the fund into our Suncorp Metway account second day after settlement. AmEx can clear your payment overnight if you bank with one of the big 4, which they introduced a few years ago and mail us a letter to tell us. I think you also have to ask them for this service.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

It's not automatic, but you can ask to be switched. There is no fee for this option. I got a letter in the mail earlier this year or something like that.



They never held our money for 7 days. Our EFTPOS terminal had settlement programmed at 6PM, and AmEx always clear the fund into our Suncorp Metway account second day after settlement. AmEx can clear your payment overnight if you bank with one of the big 4, which they introduced a few years ago and mail us a letter to tell us. I think you also have to ask them for this service.

Thanks, I'll get on to that option.

The other comment was regarding Stripe - a PayPal competitor. Not referring to Amex directly here. They settle overnight in most cases for us with Westpac.

 

[coriander]

When did this happen? Perhaps it's an option we need to take up as I don't think that's how we get it.

I didn't ask for it to happen: I received an email telling me it would start and just checking my statements, it started in June 2014 (fee taken out on 10th month).

 

[coriander]

Just noticed that my Council rates are Visa, MC or Auspost Post Billpay; paid first instalment and was able to select Paypal - paid without any surcharge and the Paypal confirmation told me I'd earn points on the transaction. Another 6000 points this fin year.

 

[whatmeworry]

I no longer seem to be able to use the "pay Wave" functionality of my AMEX at my local Coles and am required to sign for everything. Is anyone else having the issue? It's very annoying not even been able to use the PIN and maybe it's a ploy to actively discourage AMEX use?

It's happened to me twice this week at Coles with my platinum edge. First time they said must've been because link to the bank was down. Sounds like that wasn't what happened.

Happened to me last week. Checkout Chick asked me do I usually sign? One Checkout Chick at WW said when the system is down, paywave and pin is unavailable.

Shout out to the (non-chain) cafe next to my office, which accepts Amex with no minimums, no surcharges, fully functional Amex ExpressPay (PayWave), and a one-free-per-10-coffees loyalty card...

You should have given them a plug!

Just noticed that my Council rates are Visa, MC or Auspost Post Billpay; paid first instalment and was able to select Paypal - paid without any surcharge and the Paypal confirmation told me I'd earn points on the transaction. Another 6000 points this fin year.

Been paying rates via Paypal for at least 2 years now.

 

[psi999]

Shout out to the (non-chain) cafe next to my office, which accepts Amex with no minimums, no surcharges, fully functional Amex ExpressPay (PayWave), and a one-free-per-10-coffees loyalty card...

Ditto to everything you have said for my local as well (plus 3ppd on velocity amex )

Also right next door to a 7-eleven of which i'm local champion with my platinum edge (3ppd + velocity transfer bonus when offered )

 

[coriander]

Been paying rates via Paypal for at least 2 years now.

Ah, ok.

I hadn't realised that Auspost PostBillPay had a Paypal option until my work rate notice said "Pay by Paypal". My home rate notice mentions a PostBillPay option but doesn't mention PayPal: I just ran a dummy payment for that account and Paypal appears as an option for them as well. I'll check every account that mentions PostBillPay from now on as my Paypal account is linked to my ANZ Amex Black account and provides 1.5QFF per $ spend .

 

[whatmeworry]

Just paid my vicroads rego renewal at aust post and they accepted amex to pay. Surprising as vicroads mention only visa/mc via post-office. Enjoy!

Just paid my vicroads rego instore today. Only way of getting via points on AMEX these days for rego in Victoria.

 

[Chicken]

Just paid my vicroads rego instore today. Only way of getting via points on AMEX these days for rego in Victoria.

VIC Road is government, so 0.5 point per $1.

 

[whatmeworry]

VIC Road is government, so 0.5 point per $1.

Discovery card pays a dollar per point.

 

[Buzzard]

I just got my QLD rego renewal.
No Amex, surcharge using Visa or MC.