How much are AmEx swipe charges? MC and Visa?

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

One thing I noticed is how some biz don't seem to care as much as others what they pay in swipe fees.  The  regional regulatory board for our type of work uses square D and pays 2.5% I believe or 3% but their average swipe is over $1,000.  My Jeep repair guy uses square D any pays 3%.  My appliance repair co uses a local bank and pays 4% and does not take Amex. He has very low credit card use.  The IRS has several options with one I pay under 2% but get 2%  cash back if I use my  Citi Double Cash card. 

When we had a biz open to the public it was cheaper for us to take credit cards than mail statements out or deal with cash and or returned checks. 

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This exactly.  ^^^^

I agree it's not a "one-size-fits-all" situation but years ago when my family also had a customer-facing business credit cards were definitely worth the swipe fees. 

The time, hassle, fees, and revenue lost from even one bounced check adds up quickly.  Add to this that customers generally spend more when they are using plastic and it definitely made sense for us.

[Anonymous]

Thnaks Uncle B. 

[fltireguy]

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@creditfan wrote:

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@fltireguy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

The only way it costs the average family $400 yearly is if the retailer tacks its losses back onto the price of the items they sell.

The CC holders who PIF each month pays no interests whatsoever.

Whatever Visa, MC and AmEx charge to swipe cards at retailers has no correlation to the people who PIF unless those retailers jack up the price of their goods to recover the costs.

AmEx sucks.  The greediest of all CCs.  People want an AmEx for prestige.  Many businesses do not accept AmEx due to swiping fees.  Nobody wins doing business with AmEx.

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I'll disagree on Amex. Before I sold my business, I was paying 1.69%+ .17 transaction fee for mc/visa, with an average sale of $20. Amex was 1.95% with no trans fee. As a merchant, I loved Amex!!

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I were once work for a credit card processor company as a saleperson for a few months. The lowest I can give to my customer was; interchange 1.0% + $0.8 transaction fee for MC/VS/DC, and 1.0% + $.010 for Amex with at least 1 year contract

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I have learned one thing about both Fiscover and Amex.  NEVER deal with a card processing company for either - it will cost you way more. Deal direct, and negotiate

[K-in-Boston]

fltireguy, unfortunately Discover (now why does MY phone also want to autocorrect that to Fiscover?!?) no longer wants to negotiate directly with most merchants. But certainly for Amex, negotiate. Their merchant services are happy to work with you directly.

[wasCB14]

The heavily-subsidized Los Angeles commuter rail system has some fares that cost as little as $0.35 (though most fares are around a dollar or two). No fee for paying with a CC.

I wonder what share of that $0.35 goes to processing fees. I presume the city negotiates very lower rates, but any per-transaction component would eat up much of it.