Merchants know when you have a Siggy

[Torii]

Hey Folks, 

I think I figured out that merchants know you are using a Visa Signature even if they never put eyes on your card. I noticed that when I ran my siggy the returned auth code was #####C, note the alpha as the last spot in the auth. To test this, I ran a platinum and a Visa debt all from the same bank and the same store, and the latter two cards returned all ###### (numbers) as auth code. 

Soooooo its my thinking that the C shows the merchant that it was a siggy. Has anyone else noticed this? 

[boomhower]

They get charged a higher transaction rate so I imagine there would be some indentifier on it. 

[cottoncrown]

They don't get charged more for the type of visa. I work the controller at a Marjorie grocery chain and everything gets broken down to the network. Visa, mc, Amex, discover and debit which includes foodstamps (ebt). Merchants don't care what tier card you have, it pays all the same based on network.

[cottoncrown]

*major grocery chain

[HiLine]

debit cards are charged lower fees than credit cards too. The difference is a lot higher than visa cc vs vida signature cc.

[CreditScholar]

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@cottoncrown wrote:
They don't get charged more for the type of visa. I work the controller at a Marjorie grocery chain and everything gets broken down to the network. Visa, mc, Amex, discover and debit which includes foodstamps (ebt). Merchants don't care what tier card you have, it pays all the same based on network.

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Your chain may not, but most out there will pay higher fees for a signature compared to a gold. The interchange fees are published and publically available.

[bluedog1]

There is a restaurant I frequent that indicates the type of Visa I pay with on the receipt: Visa Signature or Traditional Rewards Visa.

[enharu]

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@cottoncrown wrote:
They don't get charged more for the type of visa. I work the controller at a Marjorie grocery chain and everything gets broken down to the network. Visa, mc, Amex, discover and debit which includes foodstamps (ebt). Merchants don't care what tier card you have, it pays all the same based on network.

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It depends on the type of agreement that specific merchant has with the respective payment networks.

Big companies (i.e. Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and other national chain stores for example) usually have some sort of agreements / contracts in place with each payment network. They generally pay a flat rate regardless of the type of card used, and they usually are able to negotiate a lower rate as well due to economies of scale.

Mom and pop stores often do not have this kind of bargaining power with the payment processors. They basically are charged whatever rate each payment network sets at.

[nyancat]

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@cottoncrown wrote:
They don't get charged more for the type of visa. I work the controller at a Marjorie grocery chain and everything gets broken down to the network. Visa, mc, Amex, discover and debit which includes foodstamps (ebt). Merchants don't care what tier card you have, it pays all the same based on network.

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Grocery chain, exactly. Travel & Entertainment pay more to accept Visa Signature cards (since they're the ones who also benefit from the Visa Signature perks)

[HiLine]

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@nyancat wrote:

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@cottoncrown wrote:
They don't get charged more for the type of visa. I work the controller at a Marjorie grocery chain and everything gets broken down to the network. Visa, mc, Amex, discover and debit which includes foodstamps (ebt). Merchants don't care what tier card you have, it pays all the same based on network.

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Grocery chain, exactly. Travel & Entertainment pay more to accept Visa Signature cards (since they're the ones who also benefit from the Visa Signature perks)

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Can you be more specific? What Visa Signature perks are provided to Travel & Entertainment providers? I'm really curious about this