Surcharges to be banned

[Philip Whiteman]

Maybe an organizer can confirm this but my understanding from chatting with people is that on rides where pay pal is available very few use the snail mail option.

It cant be difficult just to work out a price where everyone pays the same and the overall revenue remains pretty much the same?

I think it inevitable that if we don't comply eventually some small minded person will complain .

10% of entrants are via Snailmail in my case.  I have been meaning to unify the fee rate for ages, this new regulation will act as a good prompt!

[Jaded]

As noted above, the board are more than aware of the situation, and appropriate guidance will be forthcoming ... It's all a bit speculative at the moment anyway, at least until the legislation comes out.

I think that one T May thinks that this legislation will put millions back into the pockets of the poor, put upon BRITON when all it will do is increase the base price of things that used to attract surcharges.

[Ben T]

Maybe an organizer can confirm this but my understanding from chatting with people is that on rides where pay pal is available very few use the snail mail option.

It cant be difficult just to work out a price where everyone pays the same and the overall revenue remains pretty much the same?

I think it inevitable that if we don't comply eventually some small minded person will complain .

There'll then inevitably be the one tightwad luddite cheque user that complains that they're paying more to subsidise other people's use of PayPal. Someone will whinge  whatever.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Sure but go with the majority.

[Delph Cyclist]

There'll then inevitably be the one tightwad luddite cheque user that complains that they're paying more to subsidise other people's use of PayPal. Someone will whinge  whatever.

While others might complain if you've included free parking in the entry fee when they'll be cycling to the start, or you've bought in gluten free stuff that they won't need.  It's not an argument that works for me.

[Bianchi Boy]

This is all a move to a cashless system. Everywhere will have a card machine and it costs money to do this. We have hidden subsidies all over the place and as members of a club we do not think about it. If we were running a business we would not want payment by cheque as it would cost much more to process than the paypal fee. We hide the cost of processing cheques by doing the organising for free. Have you ever thought about how much cash costs to process? You need a cashier with a secure unit to store the stuff and then have to count and organise it. Then make a trip to a bank to pay it in. Then the bank need to employ someone to count it and process, using a special book that has been printed and posted to you, possibly free of charge. For a business the hidden cost of processing cheques and cash is much higher than you think, the card payers are subsiding this and the fee for this is visible so we complain about it.

As for surcharges to be banned this is probably a move to protect the use of cash rather than a helping hand for card payments. I give it 5 years until shops stop taking cash.

BB

[Ben T]

You eliminate the cost of processing cheques, by paying them into a personal account rather than a business one. The shoe leather involved in a trip to the bank can be saved by putting them in the post box instead on the way past.

[frankly frankie]

I wondered why there was a size 10 Doc Marten stuck in my local letterbox.

[Cudzoziemiec]

As for surcharges to be banned this is probably a move to protect the use of cash rather than a helping hand for card payments. I give it 5 years until shops stop taking cash.

BB

I went to the bank last week to pay in some cash, £40 in old style pound coins. As there was no queue behind me and I was in no hurry, I asked the cashier what was the cut off date for old coins and notes; not just when they cease to be legal tender in shops etc but when banks will no longer take them. He gave a rather long-winded answer which boiled down to "in the current difficult business climate we're advising all business to take old currency, if offered, as far back as decimalisation."

[vorsprung]

I've read the thread with interest

I was thinking of having a negative surcharge for paypal on the event I run next year

The online entry is much neater for me, I don't have to keep a bunch of envelopes ( at least half only send one SAE not two) or read illegible entry forms

[Bianchi Boy]

You eliminate the cost of processing cheques, by paying them into a personal account rather than a business one. The shoe leather involved in a trip to the bank can be saved by putting them in the post box instead on the way past.

The personal accounts are subsidised by overdraft charges and business banking and there is no magic behind the letter box. Someone opens it and processes it through the same systems as if you were there. It will not be long before you pay extra for cheques and cash. Most shops already do not take large amounts of cash because of anti-fraud and security issues. I stick with my previous point that the costs of processing cash and cheques and high and card payments just have transparent charges and this makes us complain about them.

The company I work for gets about 1% of its transactions paid by cheque and SO and this takes two people to process. The other 99% are DD or faster pay and this takes someone 10 minutes in the morning to process. Do the sums. Cheques are very expensive to process. My company cannot charge more for cheque payment, but would if they could.

BB

[Bianchi Boy]

I've read the thread with interest

I was thinking of having a negative surcharge for paypal on the event I run next year

The online entry is much neater for me, I don't have to keep a bunch of envelopes ( at least half only send one SAE not two) or read illegible entry forms

Exactly - lets make the job of the organisers easier 

[MikeFromLFE]

As for surcharges to be banned this is probably a move to protect the use of cash rather than a helping hand for card payments. I give it 5 years until shops stop taking cash.

BB

<slight thread drift> http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/visa-declares-war-cash-it-plans-pay-uk-shops-dump-notes-1630328
There is a definite move among certain actions of the financial industry to get us to stop using cash - I'm not sure that's a good thing when taken in the round.


Tapatalk puts this signature here, not me!

[frankly frankie]

India is the remarkable test case, where several denominations of banknotes were simply taken out of circulation almost overnight, last November.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-38048051

I think the grey econonmy which depends on cash, and which is very large in India, has gone over to working in sterling or US dollars.

[fuaran]

If the banks want to get rid of cash and cheques, they need to make bank transfers a lot quicker and easier to use.

[Bianchi Boy]

If the banks want to get rid of cash and cheques, they need to make bank transfers a lot quicker and easier to use.

I have transferred money between people with PayPal who had validated bank accounts and it all went swimmingly. No need for cheques or a visit to the bank. 2 minutes and PP sorted it all out. One of the reasons bank transfers take a while is for security. They need to know it is you and you need to confirm the payee with a security device. With PP you do all the signing on and just need to know the email address of the payee.

The more I think about this it is more to protect cash. We are in an unusual position in AUK as the organisers give their time for free so we notice the surcharge. As he looks up bike parts that would pay the surcharge on hundreds of transactions.

BB

[Jaded]

I've stood with a forumite in a queue to get into the London Velodrome and asked him how much our tickets were, what were his account details,  and got the money into his account less than a minute later.

Apps, and contactless* that's the future of money.

*I don't like unsecured contactless like cards - prefer fingerprint or code security like ApplePay.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Mpesa. But that does rely on cash.

[BlackSheep]

A fascinating debate,  with lots of interesting points raised.

An audax ride costing, is a bit like a funeral costing.

It puzzles me why some think event costs are the same no matter how it might be purchased, one method of handling actually costs a third more than the other for what appears to be the same service.

This is indeed " . . . .a complex subject, with a need for more than one highlighter pen."