Stores Can Now Set $10 Minimum On Credit Card Sales
How many times have you walked into a store — particularly a mom and pop shop — and saw some note taped in front of the cash register that says you can’t pay with a credit card unless you spend at least (fill in the blank) dollars?
Maybe you paid it no mind. But it was wrong. Merchants violated their agreements with credit card processing companies by placing limits.
Well, that’s not the case anymore.
Federal consumer protection laws affecting the use of credit cards, debit cards, and banking have changed or are about to. So, despite what you might have heard here a few times before — stop scolding the merchant with the sign. They can now set a $10 minimum limit to use a card as long as they don’t discriminate against one card or another.
Another big change you might have noticed, particularly if you access your bank account online, is the request to “opt in” to overdraft protection. Banks push pretty hard to get customers to say yes. And participation has been estimated at 70 percent or more.
But at a recent meeting on consumer issues at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, some involved in banking regulation questioned whether people know what they are opting in to. Opting in means you get overdraft protection. It also means you pay a hefty fee for spending more than you have in your account.
