FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- What is a Cash Discount Program?
- The Cash Discount Program is a way for you as a merchant to offset some or all of your current merchant non-discount fee without increasing your overall rates. It is a method of implementing a non-discount fee to all customers, while giving a discount to those who pay with cash. Therefore your posted rates now become the rate for those who pay with cash. Those customers who pay with cash avoid the services fee and all others will see a line item added to their receipt. It is our proprietary technology that allows this to happen and keeps you within the guidelines of Visa, Mastercard, and processor regulations.
- Is it legal to offer a Cash Discount?
- The spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission, Mitchell Katz, said in May of 2011 that: The Dodd-Frank law prohibits a payment card network like Visa “from inhibiting the ability of any individual to give a discount for payment by cash, checks, debit cards, or credit cards,” said Katz. “Neither surcharging, nor a cash discount is unlawful.”
- Is this a kind of new program?
- No, in fact it’s been around for decades in Europe and is being used in the US in gas stations where a cash discount is offered at the pump. Gas stations have been using this program in the US for more than 15 years. Numerous national, state and local governments including the DMV, Secretary of State, Post Offices, Schools, Courts, and the IRS implement a non-discount Fee.
- What do I need to do to make sure I’m using this program effectively in my business?
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To effectively actualize a Cash Discount Program, you don’t have to change any of your prices, all you need to do is to post a signage (that we will provide)
that expresses that all transactions now carry a 4% customer service charge if they don’t pay with cash, check or pin debit.
However any consumer, who pays with cash, will have this fee waived. Your posted prices are your cash price. Consumers who pay with a method other than cash will see a 4% cash discount fee recorded on their receipt at the register. The extra 4% service charge is programmed into your terminal, so you don’t need to take any extra step.
- I heard that it’s illegal to charge a fee if someone make use of a credit card?
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Not until recently, Visa and MasterCard regulations made it clear merchants couldn’t charge more to a shopper who utilized a credit card or other payment method. Because of a 2013 claim against the card networks, merchants are not permitted to force an extra charge in all but 10 states and Puerto Rico.
We’ll address the extra charge in the following inquiry beneath.
In any case, there has always been a stipulation in the Visa and MasterCard regulations that take into consideration a discount while paying with cash.
While this may appear like an issue of semantics, it’s essentially adhering to the wording of the Visa and MasterCard regulations that permit the Cash Discount Program to be actualized.
Here’s the verbiage specific to both Visa and MasterCard Rules and Regulations:
Keep in mind, your stated price now conveys a 4% non-discount Fee, so when somebody pays with cash, they are getting a discount off the stated price, not an increase when they pay with credit or different methods of payment.
- Is this the same thing as a Surcharge? I hear that’s only allowed in certain states.
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No, the Cash Discount Program, while apparently comparative, is in reality very different, especially according to Visa and MasterCard. As specified in the former Q&A, the 2013 decision against the card networks brought about merchants now having the capacity to actualize an additional charge. The additional charge is permitted in all except 10 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas, in addition to the U.S. region of Puerto Rico).
Those states mentioned claims that an extra charge is not fair for shoppers. We discover it to be ridiculous that it’s not fair for shoppers to pay for the cost merchants incur to give goods and services while it’s been consummately OK for merchants to pay for the reward programs associated with the credit cards that consumers utilize.
Do you understand that privilege? Each time you see a promotion on TV, in print, or hear on the radio that discuss the benefit and rewards related with a specific credit card, those benefits come as higher Interchange rates that merchants pay to be able to acknowledge those cards. The increase in charges is not brought about by the card issuing banks or credit card processors – merchants pay for it!
The Surcharge comes along with several stipulations which are listed below:
- Only credit card might be surcharged and not debit cards
- Signage must be posted for at least 30 days before executing an extra charge, so that your customers will be aware.
- A maximum of 4% can be imposed.
- Surcharging is only permitted in states where the program has not been excluded
With the Cash Discount Program, if this limitation is not in place, as you are not charging an extra fee for accepting a credit card, you are giving a discount to those individuals who pay with cash. This is a reasonable distinction, and one that Visa, MasterCard, and the courts have all agreed upon:
In this program, a service charge of 4% is attached to all prices in your store. The posted prices are your cash price. The individuals who pay with cash don’t need to pay this fee. This is not a circumstance where the individuals who pay with a credit card pay more.
As Mitchell Katz, representative for the Federal Trade Commission, said in May of 2011: The Dodd-Frank law denies a payment card network such as Visa “from inhibiting the ability of anybody to give a discount to payment with cash, checks, debit cards, or credit cards,” said Katz. “Neither surcharging, nor a money markdown is unlawful.”
Is this a semantics contention? We’ll give you a chance to choose, however in particular, Visa, MasterCard, and the courts take into consideration this refinement.
- Why don’t I just implement the program myself?
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When an expense is erroneously applied to a transaction, any extra fee charged to those shoppers utilizing a credit card is named a Surcharge and that is explicitly illegal by Visa, MasterCard, and the processing provider without making specific steps (see past question)
The way around this process is to allow us to automate a Cash Discount Program for you which is not quite different from the surcharge. In the Cash Discount Program you post signage expressing that all consumers will now be paying a 4% non-discount Fee, however for those paying with cash, the fee will be waived. We will automate your hardware so that this fee is consequently added for those customers utilizing any other method of payment other than cash (basically credit cards). While this may seem to be the same with the Surcharge Program, it is distinctively unique in that everybody is paying an increased fee, the individuals who pay with cash get a discount, however, with the Surcharge program, you are specifically stating that those paying with credit cards will pay more. In particular it is lined up with the rules of Visa and MasterCard.
Also, you are forbidden by Visa, MasterCard, and the Processor’s rules to benefit on a credit card transaction, which could happen in the event that you accidentally charged more than you were being charged by the processor. By using the Cash Discount Program, we establish an appropriate pricing for you to guarantee you remain within every guideline.
- Won’t my customers be upset by this fee and want to go elsewhere?
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While no one needs to pay additional fees, an ever increasing number of customers are beginning to acknowledge how costly it’s been for merchants to accept credit cards. By charging a 4% expense on a sales transaction, this is a little cost for customers to pay for the goods and services being offered. Also,if paying that expense or Implementing the Cash Discount Program enables you to remain in business and keep your general costs lower, it’s a little price to pay.
Actually, surveys have demonstrated that more than 80% of respondents expressed they wouldn’t mull over paying that sum (just $1.00 on a $25.00 transaction) for the comfort of utilizing their credit card as opposed to carrying money along with them. However, we are all aware that few of us are conveying money now-a-days and everybody adores the reward related with their credit cards.
Furthermore, we’ve all turned out to be acclimated to paying $2-4 when we utilize an ATM and this cash discount fee is far cheaper than the ATM charge for most transactions.
In the event that you clarify that the Cash Discount Program is a way for you to continue giving quality products and services without increasing your general costs, most customers have shown they comprehend and comply with it. And again, a 4% fee on an individual transaction has a minimal impact to the customer, but for you as a merchant, saving it is quite crucial.