I am not sure if this is somewhat connected to the fact that in Canada it is now legal for companies to charge a certain percentage for credit card transactions if they wish. As a retailer myself I know that accepting credit cards does not come without cost and nowadays it is becoming more and more complex with so many so-called "premium" cards where people are paying an annual fee in order to get certain benefits like extra insurances, points or more points, free access to airport lounges and so on. Not only do such cards cost the consumer, merchants often also pay a premium if they accept such a card and instead of maybe 1.5 or 1.75%, suddenly the fee goes up to 2.25 or 2.5 or even 3%. This one reason why at least here in Canada American Express is not necessarily accepted everywhere, their merchant fee is at 3% or more depending on your volume and setup whereas Visa and Mastercard typically are less. So, back to the fees, it used to be officially illegal for a business to say that if you want to pay with a credit card an extra 1.5% or 2% fee would be added on to the actual amount of the transaction, but many places did it anyways. Of course not day-to-day merchants like grocery stores, hotels and so on, but for example some of my suppliers/wholesalers have done this for years, they say it's OK to pay by credit card, but if you want to it costs you an extra 2%. Same as our local municipality, I can pay my property taxes by credit card, but it costs an extra 2% so for my approx. $3,200 property tax I would have to pay an extra $64 if I wanted to pay it by credit card. Some people do it because it means they may have an extra few weeks before they actually have to pay this amount, some think it's OK because they get points from whichever reward system they are a member of, but in the end it really is not a good deal. So, late last year our government decided that merchants can now officially charge up to I think 2 or 2.5% and my telecommunications provider, Telus, who is one of the big 3 in Canada, announced they would start charging an extra 1.5% starting in October. In the end they did not do so or at least they postponed it because there was a pretty big outcry, but it might just mean they wait until people stop thinking about it or maybe others start charging and people start getting used to it. Of course setting up automatic payments through your debit card/bank account is virtually free for them, if somebody at my store pays a $1,000 purchase with some super high-end premium rewards card it may cost me $30 in fees, if they pay it with their bank card it costs me a 10 Cent flat rate. And another way for a company to recover some of these merchant fees could very well be connected to a small amount of discount you may get for having set up automatic payments or for being a loyal customer or whatever. They may say exactly what Vicky was told which is that you are no longer entitled to the discount if you want to pay by credit card. In doing so they may actually gain even more than charging a 2% fee because your discount could be 5% or 10% or whatever and there will be some people who either ignore the message and never notice or who say just for convenience reasons they don't want to make any changes and so what if they have to pay an extra $3 or $5 or whatever a onths extra.
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Lehmann, Timothy A Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023 12:55 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: T-Mobile billing Vicki, I got the same text and it is legitimate. I switched mine over last week. Thanks and have a nice day! Tim Lehmann Access Specialist Disability Resource Center Office of Legal Affairs and Compliance Missouri State University Meyer Library 111G 901 South National Avenue Springfield, Missouri 65897 Office 417-836-4248 Fax 417-836-3158 mailto:[email protected] From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Vicki W. Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023 2:51 PM To: IPhone <[email protected]> Subject: T-Mobile billing CAUTION: External Sender Hi, I got a notice today from my T-Mobile service that beginning on August 7, I will lose my monthly discount unless I switch from auto pay on my credit card to auto pay using my bank account or debit card. Has anyone else received a similar text message? Of course there was a link which I ignored and I will go to my account and check in the next few days. I was just wondering if anyone else got that message. Vicki -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/001801d9b043%242a83abf0%241704a8c0%40WritersGarden<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/001801d9b043%242a83abf0%241704a8c0%40WritersGarden?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. This message originated outside Missouri State University. Please use caution when opening attachments, clicking links, or replying. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/DM6PR01MB4187332C7A6AD1931FFAC758CF2CA%40DM6PR01MB4187.prod.exchangelabs.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/DM6PR01MB4187332C7A6AD1931FFAC758CF2CA%40DM6PR01MB4187.prod.exchangelabs.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/PH7PR12MB56567D4EE7F14A74AD03C1DAC72DA%40PH7PR12MB5656.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
