Quote:
Originally Posted by tracer bullet
I think they're saying people should be informed about how their payment choice may screw other people, and be ready to be asked to not screw them as much any more.
These fees have been around forever but I do think they're becoming more common. I don't like it but it makes sense. The business we're paying lose a couple percent of the sale to pay the credit card companies. Obviously it's not free to use the credit card services, some fee makes sense of course, and it is definitely convenient for us and them as well. But using cash or checks appears free, because the banks don't charge for the use of checks (yet) and businesses don't tend to think in terms of the time their employees spend taking care of the cash transactions.
It's been this way for a while but maybe more prevalent because it's become more socially acceptable or something. It's dumb for a gas station transaction but make a $5,000 down payment with a card instead of a check, so one can get points or "cash back", is certainly a great move to make if you can get away with it but shouldn't be met with very much disappointment when it no longer can be.
We still have checks in our household. I'd say once a month or so we have to write one. We don't like them but they're necessary. Just today I wrote one to a father & son tree trimming company that isn't big enough to take a card.
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Time and safety are key here. Someone has to take cash to a bank (and checks if the business doesn’t have remote check deposit).
All of the smaller businesses that I have dealt with use Zelle (plumber, painter, contractor, heating/cooling, electrician). As someone that works/worked at two large banks for the past 25+ years (can’t believe I just typed that!), I’m a big fan of Zelle over checks.