Two Credit Card Tips

Here’s a couple of credit card tips in this season of shopping.

Paying By Check Versus Paying By Card

Generally, paying by card is a better option than checks. Remember that checks can get stolen, washed and used by thieving individuals. Cards are safer on that end, not to mention that the US Fair Credit Billing Act gives cardholders plenty of protections.

Special Prices For Credit Card Purchases

More and more merchants are tacking on higher prices on credit card purchases compared to shopping with cash, as an incentive to spare the store of the extra trouble card purchases can be. Save for a handful of states, there’s no concrete law against.

Discover allows it with no problem except for the aforementioned states while Amex, Visa and Mastercard expressly forbid credit card surcharges. Even with most of the credit card companies officially frowning on the practice, though, merchants continue to get away with it.

Instead of announcing the price difference as a surcharge, retail stores will often point to it as a discount for cash purchases. This means that while they cannot “charge you a premium” for swiping for a sale, they can “give you a discount” for paying in cash. It effectively works the same way but gets around the policies of the credit card companies.

Is it legal? Yes. Is it fair? Well, when has fair ever been an issue when it comes to siphoning your money away?