Visa Credit/Debt card

[willyumcr]

I have a KasiKorn Visa debt card. I went in to pay my annual MB premium and was told by the merchant (insurance agent) they only accepted Visa credit cards and not Visa debt cards. I was under the impression that if you accepted Visa payment, it was credit or debt. Does the merchant have the right to accept one and not the other if they both are Visa? Just curious.

[blackcab]

There are a few companies that do this. Fuji supermarkets in Bangkok only accept credit cards and not debit cards.

Makro only accept one specific credit card, not even other credit cards using the same payment processing network.

It's not usual nowadays, but it does happen from time to time.

[Leaver]

Do they accept cash?

[moontang]

YMMV, but I always tell them it is credit, so I don't need to enter the PIN.  Never been denied with my visa logo debit card here, and there has never been any mention of PIN.. Could it being chipped make a difference? 

[GrandPapillon]

4 hours ago, blackcab said:

There are a few companies that do this. Fuji supermarkets in Bangkok only accept credit cards and not debit cards.

Makro only accept one specific credit card, not even other credit cards using the same payment processing network.

It's not usual nowadays, but it does happen from time to time.

officially it's illegal for them to refuse debit card payment with VISA, and should be reported when they do

the reason they do it is because credit card charges are less, and I think they even get some bonus if a lot of credit cards are being used in the store. It's all about tracking buyers preferences etc...

officially, they can't refuse, and when they do, I break a little scandal at the cashier and magically, they process my debit card ???? 

[moontang]

9 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

officially it's illegal for them to refuse debit card payment with VISA, and should be reported when they do

the reason they do it is because credit card charges are less, and I think they even get some bonus if a lot of credit cards are being used in the store. It's all about tracking buyers preferences etc...

officially, they can't refuse, and when they do, I break a little scandal at the cashier and magically, they process my debit card ???? 

Merchants aren't suppose to charge the customer a fee for using a cc, but it is a lot more common than a dog on a leash, here. 

[Mavideol]

2 hours ago, Leaver said:

Do they accept cash?

in Thailand Cash runs the show  555

[blackcab]

18 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

...officially it's illegal for them to refuse debit card payment

 

It's not illegal. There is no Thai law stating a seller must accept a debit card as payment.

It may be contrary to the contract they have with the payment processor, or it may not be. We cannot know the contents of their contact with each other to decide this.

[Kerryd]

Credit card companies (like Visa) charge merchants a percentage fee to use the card/network. The more credit card transactions a business does, the lower the fee.

I've dealt with companies before where they've asked for a bank/wire transfer instead of a credit card payment as they didn't do a lot of card transactions and the fees they would be charged would eat most of the profit from the sales (they were discount wholesalers with slim profit margins).

I remember seeing a scale one time and I think the fees run from something like 1% of the transaction value (for businesses with lots of transactions) to 3 or 3.5% for businesses with few or next to no transactions. (Probably done like that on purpose to encourage businesses to try and get customers to use credit cards more and cash less.)

[Leaver]

40 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

in Thailand Cash runs the show  555

Yes.  I was being sarcastic.  ????

[GrandPapillon]

4 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

It's not illegal. There is no Thai law stating a seller must accept a debit card as payment.

It may be contrary to the contract they have with the payment processor, or it may not be. We cannot know the contents of their contact with each other to decide this.

actually since 2003 in Thailand if I am not mistaken, all stores must accept credit cards, part of the OECD initiative to stop money laundering with cash etc...

as for VISA agreement, yes, if they carry the VISA logo, they must accept all versions of payments with a VISA card, they can't refuse. That's in theory, in practice, we all know rules means nothing in Thailand.

the VISA agreement is standard, if you accept VISA, then all cards with a VISA logo must be accepted.

[willyumcr]

12 hours ago, GrandPapillon said:

actually since 2003 in Thailand if I am not mistaken, all stores must accept credit cards, part of the OECD initiative to stop money laundering with cash etc...

as for VISA agreement, yes, if they carry the VISA logo, they must accept all versions of payments with a VISA card, they can't refuse. That's in theory, in practice, we all know rules means nothing in Thailand.

the VISA agreement is standard, if you accept VISA, then all cards with a VISA logo must be accepted.

If an insurance agency is not concerned about following Visa agreement, I just wonder now ho they would be about paying out claims? Time to check out other options.

[ramrod711]

On 3/13/2021 at 7:00 PM, Leaver said:

Yes.  I was being sarcastic.  ????

I was in a hotel the other day that had a sign stating that they preferred cashless transactions. Unfortunately that will probably become the norm. Not good for me because I pay everything with cash.

[Leaver]

35 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

I was in a hotel the other day that had a sign stating that they preferred cashless transactions. Unfortunately that will probably become the norm. Not good for me because I pay everything with cash.

I am sure if you said, "No cash.  I not stay" they would have accepted cash.   ????