Debit cards, why spend so much?

Question

Why do shops demand that you have to spend at least £10 per transaction (or £5 if your lucky with some shops) before they will swipe your card?

I reckon it's a con to make you spend more because they come out with excuses like "oh, we get charged every time you use your card"

OK most times i use it, i spend over £40 sometimes a lot more but i got caught out the other day when all i wanted was a few bits that came to under a tenner but was made to purchase stuff i didn't want and it put me overdrawn by a couple of quid and then the bank charged me £30 for the privilage!! - CHEERS!

Why can't i just spend say for example 75p on my card, it's still money spent in their shop?

Answer 1

The vendor probably gets charged a minimum transaction fee for accepting the debit card.

Answer 2

They do get charge for accepting it, but there's some people that instead of make you buy $5, they charge you a quarter if its less, but that's very rare.

Answer 3

It's not a con. The merchants do have to pay fees for electronic purchases. They may impose minimums so that they are able to still make a profit from their sales. I didn't know this until I worked in business banking.

Answer 4

Seems the storesa re in violation of the VISA agreeemnt. There's no minimum transaction amount.