Saturday Weekend Review #14- Would You Pay For Credit Card Surcharges?
Paying to use our credit card each time we swiped it would certainly make the choice of not using it easy for us.
A recent conversation with a local pizzeria owner we frequent shared with us that it does cost him money when customers use a credit card.
If we ever order a pizza now we pay in cash because we kinda feel bad about it, but not sure if he meant to make us feel that way or we feel sorry for him. He does make a good pizza for a reasonable price though.
Canadian businesses are charged fees from 1.5 to more than 3% of each purchase put on a MasterCard and Visa credit card.
Best of it is, if you are using a premium credit card merchants have to pay more. The transaction charges imposed are per the anti-competitive rules set out by the competition bureau of Canada.
Would you not say that this is just part of the cost of doing business?
We have seen signs at shops that say “Cash Only” or “Debit and Credit Card Machine” down in our days but tend to stay away.
In Canada merchants can ask the customer to pay a surcharge on debit cards but it has to be clearly marked at time of purchase. in fact MasterCard Canada has prohibited merchants from imposing any fees to the customer for using their cards for over 35 years and “believes merchants should pay their fair share of the cost of credit cards”.
It seems at one specific shop in town the machine was always down so you would have to pay in cash which was a pain because we don’t really carry cash. We didn’t want to guess any longer if the machine would be up so we just don’t go there any longer.
Our business is going to someone else. I’m only assuming but if the merchant doesn’t offer the use of credit or debit cards by making like the machines are broken then they avoid paying those fees because only cash would be used.
Would You Pay To Use Your Credit Card?
I was reading on Yahoo this morning that some states in the USA now have the approval for retailers to charge a 1-4 % surcharge to the customers for using a credit card.
Keep in mind this isn’t something the retailers were complaining about it was due to a class action suit that happened. Some states already have made these surcharges on credit cards illegal with laws in place and many more up to 19 are looking to follow suit.
As the competition bureau in Canada states in their anti-competitive rules 2012 fact sheet the no surcharge rule, “forces merchants to embed credit card transaction fees in retail prices”. The consumers who pay cash suffer because they are paying a premium to offset the costs of customers who do use the credit card.
Canadians are not out of the clear yet as a final ruling is still to come down on whether retailers can charge Canadians a surcharge which could be up to 10% of our purchase price. According to the Consumers Association, this is all pending a ruling from Canada’s Competition Tribunal judging a case against Visa and MasterCard from 2010.
Many people use a credit card, like us for rewards and ease of use. We don’t always like to go to the cash machine to draw out money even though our bank doesn’t charge us any fees. Using a credit card seems to be the smart way to go especially if they are offering cash back or reward money to use on in-store products.
Would you use your credit or debit card if you had to pay a fee?
What’s Happening At The CBB House?
If you follow me on Facebook you will know that I have been pretty ill this week. My fans even took over the nightly “What’s for Dinner” post because I just couldn’t even keep my eyes open. I get migraines sometimes and I just want to go hide and bury my head. This week I had both migraines and just was feeling off. I’m sure it’s because I just need to kick back and take some time away from everything.
I may not comment as much in the next week but I’m around, but need to take it easy for a bit. I’ve got so much going on right now in my life with work and the house and now the blog just exploding with amazing fans that a break is in order. Other than that we tried this super easy recipe below that I hope you try it.
I don’t normally post a recipe in the Saturday Weekend Review but the fans really wanted this recipe. I usually post a frugal recipe every Sunday and tomorrow that is macaroni and cheese with ham baked in the oven so don’t miss that one.
As you might have read we paid down our mortgage last week by over $32,000 and I know many of you have asked me questions about where we go from here. I will address that topic in an upcoming post and in the meantime if you have any other questions please email me or click on Ask Mr.CBB on the home page of the blog.
Making Pita or Flatbread
A fan on my Facebook page (if you are not a fan you are missing out on one heck of a group) posted this easy flat-bread recipe on my “What’s for Dinner” post the other night and we just had to try it. It was so easy to make and you can’t compare the cost of buying it to this. Making flat-bread is by far cheaper than buying it. You can add all sorts of flavours to it and today we added chives to give it a bit of kick. We later turned the flatbreads into flatbread pizza which turned out beautiful.
How to Make Flatbread
- 1 Tablespoon of active dry yeast
- 1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 teaspoon of salt
- 4 cups flour
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup dried chives (optional from Mr.CBB)
Preparation
- Combine 1/2 cup of the water with the sugar or honey and yeast, whisk and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Dissolve the salt in the remaining 1 cup of water. Add the salt water and flour to the yeast mixture. ( I added in the chives here)
- Mix it up and then place it on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
- Put the dough back in the bowl and add the olive oil.
- Knead the dough until the olive oil in well incorporated into the dough.
- Put the bowl with the dough into your oven which is OFF and set your timer for 90 minutes.
- Take the dough out of the oven & punch it down then divide it into 12 balls.
- Heat frying pan on stove on medium heat, coat lightly with oil. Roll each ball into a circular disk about 6-7 inches in diameter.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.
I wanted to sneak this recipe in today and share it with all of you. Thanks Pam for sharing this recipe which she originally found at Mother’s of Invention: Best Pita and Flatbread.
Flatbread Pizza
We took it one step further the next day as I was too ill to eat it the first day and made simple pepperoni flatbread pizzas in the oven. You can use any toppings you desire. We used homemade marinara sauce, mushrooms, homemade sausage, mozzarella and provolone cheese.
We turned the oven to 500 degrees, put in our pizza stone to get it nice and hot and cooked our pizzas for about 5 minutes until golden brown. They were simply amazing and a great Friday night alternative to ordering a pizza or you can make my so much better than take-out pizza which is the best pizza we have ever tried.
What’s Happening With Canadian Budget Binder?
I am forever grateful for Katrina to join me here at CBB to share her expertise this summer with all of you. I am also potentially working with another lady who would like to help out with the marketing side of the blog which I am thrilled about.
I’m sure I’ll keep you all updated as we roll along.
The new blog design is ready for me to check out which I’m hoping to start doing this week. I’ll keep you all updated with that as well. I’m excited to see what my designer has put together for all of us here at CBB.
I hope we can continue on the upward level we have experienced here at the blog. With so many new subscribers and amazing Bloggers that follow CBB, I welcome you all and I encourage you to take part in the conversation.
Canadian Budget Binder Blog Posts
- PF Reading List #14 March Job Loss In Canada, Change Your Life or Your Attitude
- There and Back Again, A Spenders Financial Journey
- March 2013 CBB Budget Update #3- A Quiet Month For The Budget
- Net Worth Update March 2013 +1.61% Mortgage Pre-Payment Update
- The Grocery Game Challenge #1 April 1-7, Price Comparison Grocery List
- Easter Bunny Butter Shortbread Cookies with Lemon Drizzle
Google Search terms really help me to understand what people are looking for at Canadian Budget Binder! Any typos below are simply how the person who searched Google and typed it in search incorrectly, or me 
Another week of thousands of search terms but only a few good ones worth mentioning.
Top Pick: Mr.Brownie In Canada- Oh come on you know it’s funny, especially if you know how much I fancy brownies. They are my favourite dessert. I’m sure my fudgy brownie recipe was the cause of this search.
- Homemade Cakes Legal Canada– Interesting, I wonder how one would make an illegal cake in Canada? Unless they meant can I sell homemade cakes in Canada for profits.
- Canadian Mortgage Payoff Tricks- There really aren’t any real tricks except to pay it when you are supposed to, pay it weekly if you can, pre-pay all you can each year and for a super fast way to pay off your mortgage- win the lottery.
- What reply will one give when someone says Happy Easter? – Thank-You, Happy Easter to you as well!!!
- Why can’t I say Easter– I don’t know, why can’t you?
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- The Saturday Weekend Review #13- Happy Easter! Why Can’t People Just Be Happy? (canadianbudgetbinder.com)
