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I don't know about "increasingly." I think there are two places in my area of the city that offer a cash discount. These kinds of tactics really aren't convincing customers to use cash - maybe if they turned it around to "a 3% fee will be added to card transactions" then people would care. Anyway, discounts are enough of a pain that it's not worth the accounting.

Look at your costs, including card transactions fees, and spread that across your pricing. It's no different than pricing in all other business expenses - do you complain you're paying a "toilet tissue tax" because you don't use the toilet when you stop in? Paper products in the bathroom are a cost, and those costs are put into the price everyone pays for a donut.

Now, I'll agree having a minimum plus percentage of every transaction is predatory.

by mahboi7 hours ago|

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They phrase it as surcharge sometimes, or just cash vs credit prices at most gas stations. Toilet paper isn't 3-5% of revenue.

by jagged-chisel7 hours ago|

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If you have enough cash customers, total card transaction costs are not 3-5% of revenue. If you don’t, you’re definitely putting 3-5% back into your pricing to cover the fees.

by mahboi6 hours ago|

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But the ones in the second case don't put 3-5% back into their pricing, they do a credit surcharge.

by jagged-chisel4 hours ago|

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You're right. But in my anecdotal experience, there are about half as many adding the surcharge as providing the discount.

Ultimately, my point is (not even addressing the legality of Visa's compulsory pricing attempts) the cost of upfront analysis to set pricing appropriately is easily dwarfed by the cost of labor and throughput when adjusting the price by employees at the point of sale. Maybe the merchants adjusting at sale are getting a benefit in the form of customer awareness, but I have doubts.