AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[ozbeachbabe]

These signs were everywhere in the Plaza Las Americas shopping mall in San Juan PR which gave people 20% off for paying on Amex - kind of a role reversal from what happens in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

[Flashback]

View attachment 6090

These signs were everywhere in the Plaza Las Americas shopping mall in San Juan PR which gave people 20% off for paying on Amex - kind of a role reversal from what happens in the Southern Hemisphere.

You often get things like this with Citibank cards and AMEX cards in Singapore...

 

[edman]

In HK too, where HSBC also seem to do a fair bit. But the ones I've seen are usually bank promos as opposed to Visa/Mastercard/Amex promos.

 

[xt_20]

I purchased over $2000 of lights from a Beacon Lighting franchise in WA. I had no problems paying the 30% deposit via AMEX over the phone. However when I had to pay the balance, I presented my AMEX and was politely refused! Visa or MC only. I said I had paid with AMEX before, and the customer service officer declined, saying only the stores which aren't franchises accept AMEX while they don't. I then showed them the receipt from my deposit, saying that I paid AMEX here 2 weeks ago and she reluctantly accepted. Card went through machine with no problems.

So, lesson learnt -- if refused, forcefully swipe your AMEX

 

[Flashback]

I've just received my PO Box renewal from Australia Post and see that they now accept AMEX through postbillpay.com.au whereas I'm sure that even last year it was only Visa/MC.

 

[serfty]

I've just received my PO Box renewal from Australia Post and see that they now accept AMEX through postbillpay.com.au whereas I'm sure that even last year it was only Visa/MC.

!

...runs frantically to his renewal documentation for March 31st ...

 

[KLN]

Yep! just did PO Box today myself, and Postbillpay accepted AMEX
Don't forget for Energy Australia (NSW), only accept Visa/Mastercard online option, but PHONE Option can pay via AMEX. did 2 today successfully.

 

[serfty]

!

...runs frantically to his renewal documentation for March 31st ...

Yep, AMEX is indeed listed (and Diners Club as well)!

 

[Holly]

I've just paid over $2K uni fees with Visa. If only they accepted Amex...maybe by the time I graduate? :idea:

 

[cove]

One of my competitors has been taking Amex at a cost to them of 2.8%. Ouch that would pretty much knock out the net profit with the current market being so tight. No wonder they have just put a stop to that continuing!

 

[Cruiser Elite]

IIRC wasn't ACCC undertaking review of CC surcharges in general?

If YES does anybody know progress?

 

[oz_mark]

IIRC wasn't ACCC undertaking review of CC surcharges in general?

If YES does anybody know progress?

The RBA was.

Following the cosultation process last year, they issued a draft variation to the surcahrging rules in December. The proposed variation was to allow the schemes to limit surcahrges to a reasonable cost of acceptance (without defining reasonable). The draft proposal was

Merchant pricing
8. Neither the rules of the Scheme nor any participant in the Scheme shall prohibit

(i) a merchant from recovering part or all of the reasonable cost of acceptance of credit
cards issued under the Scheme by the merchant charging fees or surcharges to credit
card holders; or
(ii) a merchant, in recovering part or all of the reasonable cost of acceptance of credit cards
issued under the Scheme, from applying different fees or surcharges to credit card holders
for different card types either within the Scheme or across card schemes.


10. For the purposes of paragraph 9, the merchant’s cost of acceptance of credit cards issued under
the Scheme may, for the purpose of determination of a fee or surcharge, be determined by
reference to:
(i) the cost to the merchant of the credit card transaction in relation to which the fee or
surcharge is to be levied;
(ii) the average cost to the merchant of acceptance of all credit cards of all types issued under
the Scheme; or
(iii) the average cost to the merchant of acceptance of a subset of credit cards issued under the
Scheme, which includes the type of credit card in relation to which the fee or surcharge is
to be levied,

See: http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/...df/201112-variation-surcharging-standards.pdf

The consultation process for the draft has concluded, so I guess we need to wait and see....


Edit: Submissions are published here: RBA: Submissions on a Variation to the Surcharging Standards

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Thanks Mark

 

[The Rok]

One of the biggest issues facing business that accept Amex is that unlike CC transactions it can take 2 - 5 days for the money to come through to them. If you are in a high CC turnover business with a lot of Amex transitions then this can cause cash flow problems. The delay in receiving the money from Amex also usually causes bigger accounting issues, as the payments will appear on your end of day CC terminal report but will not appear in the bank straight away. That means more time and manpower to reconcile accounts.

For some merchants it is not worth the hassle so they charge a higher fee or do not accept it.

 

[Chicken]

One of the biggest issues facing business that accept Amex is that unlike CC transactions it can take 2 - 5 days for the money to come through to them.

I really don't know where this is from. This is misinformation as far as I concern.

The business I work for accept AMEX. Any AmEx transaction is paid 2 nights from the date of settlement.

For example. Settlement on Monday night, AmEx sends the money on Tuesday, so the money arrives on Wednesday morning dated Tuesday. It's just the same as someone sending us money on Tuesday, so the transaction will arrive on Wednesday morning dated Tuesday.

In other words, it basically has no difference comparing with someone doing a EFT, or no difference to a merchant accepting Visa / MasterCard but using different banks for their merchant facility and transaction account.

 

[RichardKopf]

One of the biggest issues facing business that accept Amex is that unlike CC transactions it can take 2 - 5 days for the money to come through to them. If you are in a high CC turnover business with a lot of Amex transitions then this can cause cash flow problems. The delay in receiving the money from Amex also usually causes bigger accounting issues, as the payments will appear on your end of day CC terminal report but will not appear in the bank straight away. That means more time and manpower to reconcile accounts.

For some merchants it is not worth the hassle so they charge a higher fee or do not accept it.

This is changing. I'm with CBA. We now get Visa/Master charges on the same day, after COB and Amex 1-2 days after transaction. Our accounting system allows us to receipt card income without any hassles.

 

[greenfrog86]

One of the biggest issues facing business that accept Amex is that unlike CC transactions it can take 2 - 5 days for the money to come through to them. If you are in a high CC turnover business with a lot of Amex transitions then this can cause cash flow problems. The delay in receiving the money from Amex also usually causes bigger accounting issues, as the payments will appear on your end of day CC terminal report but will not appear in the bank straight away. That means more time and manpower to reconcile accounts.

For some merchants it is not worth the hassle so they charge a higher fee or do not accept it.

I know it doesn't translate into the Merchant experience necessarily, however I LOVE the fact that all of my Amex transactions (on Amex-issued cards) appear the next day...

I'm sick of waiting for transactions to show with all the other banks with overnight batch processing...

Its a serious consideration in thinking about dumping my Plat Charge and going for something offered by CBA due to their new core banking system...

 

[Cruiser Elite]

The business I work for accept AMEX. Any AmEx transaction is paid 2 nights from the date of settlement.

My experience with AMEX settlement pretty much same - 2 days post transaction / settlement date. But Friday transaction / settlement arrives Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday - AMEX nowhere near as consistent as banks with Visa / Mastercard IMHO - who ALWAYS settle following day - Friday's funds arrive Saturday / Saturday's funds arrive Sunday.

 

[Chicken]

But Friday transaction / settlement arrives Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday - AMEX nowhere near as consistent

This is not AmEx's fault. It makes perfect sense if you think about it.

APCA process the last interbank settlement for a working week on Friday night, with this process completed on early Saturday morning, so funds would arrive in their destination accounts Saturday morning. The next one will be Monday night (there is no interbank settlement on weekends),

The very latest / last cut off time I know of for fund transfer, is 6PM Sydney time (with the big 4 banks + HSBC).

When your EFTPOS terminal settles, it would probably be around 6PM, or well after 6PM. This means AmEx would have well past the cut off time on Friday night, the very last for the week, to send you the money.

APCA does not do interbank settlements on weekends, so you don't see your money over the weekend.

The first interbank settlement for the week is processed Monday night, completed Tuesday morning.

So AmEx receives your takings from Friday on Friday night, missed the last interbank settlement for the week, the money sits in the queue until APCA send you your money on Monday night, and your bank receive and process your money on Tuesday morning.

The same process applies if someone sends you money using Internet banking. If they do the transfer after Friday cut off of their respective bank (big 4 are 6PM Sydney, HSBC is 6PM Sydney, Suncorp is 4PM Brisbane, other banks & credit unions can be as early as 1PM), you won't see the money until early Tuesday morning.

banks with Visa / Mastercard IMHO - who ALWAYS settle following day - Friday's funds arrive Saturday / Saturday's funds arrive Sunday.

This only applies if your merchant facility and the bank account for receiving fund is the same bank.

So, if your EFTPOS is from ANZ, and the money is to be sent to an ANZ account, then yes, Friday night settlement, and ANZ can put the money into your ANZ account the same night.

This is not possible if your merchant facility is from a different bank to your bank account.

If your EFTPOS is from ANZ, and the settlement is say 7PM, ANZ may have missed their own cut off time for sending money to another bank. If this is the case, ANZ will finalise your EFTPOS taking on Friday night, and your money will sit in ANZ, until APCA process your money on Monday night, and arrives in your bank account with another bank (say Westpac) on Tuesday morning.

 

[tim374]

I noticed when I got a new yearly train ticket, that Cityrail takes Amex online now. I don't remember that being an option last year.