Can I charge trade customers credit card fees?

[chiko930]

I have a retail site where I accept credit/debit cards and bank transfers. I know there is now a ban on charging for credit card fees but does this apply to wholesale customers as well? I have a low profit margin on wholesale orders so would ideally like to charge those who don't want to pay by bank transfer to 2% fee. Thanks

 

[Mr D]

Can get away with it. Whether your customers like it is another matter.
Expect some to avoid your charges.

https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/pricing-and-payment/payment-surcharges

 

[Nochexman]

What you can do is to charge for whatever method of payment your customers choose to make. So, averaged across all payment methods you might choose to add £1 or 2% at the point where you collect the payment. Alternatively, and this is what many businesses do is to raise their prices by an amount that covers the cost of processing payments (because it is just another cost of doing business).

If your profit margin is too low then either your price is too low or your costs are too high.

 

[Paul Norman]

Can get away with it. Whether your customers like it is another matter.
Expect some to avoid your charges.

https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/pricing-and-payment/payment-surcharges

This.

You can.

But I wouldn't.

 

[Newchodge]

Why not withdraw the iption of paying by card for wholesale customers?

 

[Mr D]

Why not withdraw the iption of paying by card for wholesale customers?

Making things more inconvenient for wholesale customers?
Interesting way to do business.

 

[The Byre]

When I am a bog-standard punter, I expect to be able to pay by card.

When I am a business and I am ordering stuff wholesale and at wholesale prices and in wholesale amounts, we pay by bank transfer. I put together an order, the wholesaler issues an invoice for what they exactly intend to send out and assuming that I agree to that invoice and the final total, I send the invoice to Mrs. Bookkeeping and she transfers the money and the wholesaler sends out the goods.

There are ancillary costs that do go onto a company card like Diesel, office supplies and a trade account to get 10% off at Wickes for all those incidental purchases that are not core to our business, but pukka wholesale is hardly something for a credit card!

 

[Mr D]

When I am a bog-standard punter, I expect to be able to pay by card.

When I am a business and I am ordering stuff wholesale and at wholesale prices and in wholesale amounts, we pay by bank transfer. I put together an order, the wholesaler issues an invoice for what they exactly intend to send out and assuming that I agree to that invoice and the final total, I send the invoice to Mrs. Bookkeeping and she transfers the money and the wholesaler sends out the goods.

There are ancillary costs that do go onto a company card like Diesel, office supplies and a trade account to get 10% off at Wickes for all those incidental purchases that are not core to our business, but pukka wholesale is hardly something for a credit card!

Some of us use cards.
Order on a website, use a card. Order on phone, use a card.

 

[Paul Norman]

When I am a bog-standard punter, I expect to be able to pay by card.

When I am a business and I am ordering stuff wholesale and at wholesale prices and in wholesale amounts, we pay by bank transfer. I put together an order, the wholesaler issues an invoice for what they exactly intend to send out and assuming that I agree to that invoice and the final total, I send the invoice to Mrs. Bookkeeping and she transfers the money and the wholesaler sends out the goods.

There are ancillary costs that do go onto a company card like Diesel, office supplies and a trade account to get 10% off at Wickes for all those incidental purchases that are not core to our business, but pukka wholesale is hardly something for a credit card!

I must admit that of the various wholesalers that supply our stores, exactly none of them accept card payment. I pay by bank transfer, usually on 30 days terms.

 

[gpietersz]

Can get away with it. Whether your customers like it is another matter.
Expect some to avoid your charges.

If the alternative is raising prices all round, it might be the better option.

 

[David Beach]

This is now illegal to do in the UK

Card surcharges were banned following a directive from the European Union, which banned such fees on Visa and Mastercard payments.

But the UK government went further and also banned American Express and PayPal charges.

Trading standards officers are supposed to police the system. But due to financial cuts and pressure on services the organisation said enforcement of rules on surcharges was "unlikely to be a priority" when the laws came in last year.

Just increase your prices by 1% to cover the credit card charge.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

This is now illegal to do in the UK

Card surcharges were banned following a directive from the European Union, which banned such fees on Visa and Mastercard payments.

This only applies to personal consumer cards. You can still apply a charge to Business/Corporate cards but only to the maximum of the charges levied by your acquiring bank/payment processor.

We are getting an increasing number of Wholesalers contacting us from who have never accepted cards before, mainly due to demand from their wholesale customer base for cards growing but as above bank transfer/invoicing is still probably the more common method.

 

[Maxwell83]

This is now illegal to do in the UK

Card surcharges were banned following a directive from the European Union, which banned such fees on Visa and Mastercard payments.

Not for business cards (which is precisely what the OP asked about)! Even HMRC apply a surcharge if you pay with a business card.

 

[Energise Accounting]

In our pub we just add 1.5% to our required margins to cover card costs.

 

[Paulsou]

I have a supplier who always charge extra for credit card payments, they say it is only end user you cannot charge, business to business you can charge.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

In our pub we just add 1.5% to our required margins to cover card costs.

Assuming it is a public pub, you are breaking the law by charging for card transactions.

There is one caveat - you can add a surcharge to cards IF you add the same surcharge to ALL types of payment e.g. cash!

 

[Newchodge]

Assuming it is a public pub, you are breaking the law by charging for card transactions.

There is one caveat - you can add a surcharge to cards IF you add the same surcharge to ALL types of payment e.g. cash!

They are adding the cost to their margins, not to the card transactions.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

@Newchodge of course....

May also be a good idea to change their merchant account provider if they are charged anywhere near 1.5%....

 

[Energise Accounting]

Assuming it is a public pub, you are breaking the law by charging for card transactions.

There is one caveat - you can add a surcharge to cards IF you add the same surcharge to ALL types of payment e.g. cash!

Don't be silly. we charge the same if people pay buy cash.