I have a great physical therapist, and am about to pay my latest bill, which says there is a 3.9% fee when paying with credit/HSA card. I emailed her and asked her if this was allowed since the card is a debit card, and this was her response:
Unfortunately my system doesn’t discriminate between cards. I can either charge the card in full and provide a detailed receipt that will show the difference where the fee I’m sure would be the amount not to get reimbursed. Or if you want to use a different card or pay cash or check for the credit card fee we can do that too
Sorry for the inconvenience,
we’re only talking about 20 or so dollars here, but it just doesn’t seem right to be charged a fee and was essentially liquid money in a debit card. Yeah, I can pay by cash or check, but the idea is to pay through my HSA. Do I have any recourse or references? I can give her showing that this isn’t permitted?
I am interested to know the legality of this.
I am interested to know the legality of this.
What is an HSA credit card? You get a monthly bill to pay? How do you pay it out of your HSA funds?
I'm 99% sure an HSA/FSA cannot be charged a surchage. And I am 99.9% sure that in NY you can't charge a fee on a debit card.
Your PT's system not being able to tell a debit from a credit card CERTAINLY doesn't mean they don't have to follow the rules. Assuming if they still can't pop a surcharge on an HSA OR a debit card is still the case.
it isn't the money, but man. Very few things piss me off when someone gives me an answer of a should shrug and an "nothing I can do, dela with it" when it is something they can 100% control 😡
And ironically, even if they ARE allowed to charge the HSA or Debit (not clear here).
Look at what they CANNOT do...
Businesses CANNOT:
Charge a separate line items:
- convenience fee
- service fee
- administrative fee
which they just put in writing in their response, is exactly what they are doing.
Lonk - ( New Window )
And ironically, even if they ARE allowed to charge the HSA or Debit (not clear here).
Look at what they CANNOT do...
Businesses CANNOT:
Charge a separate line items:
- convenience fee
- service fee
- administrative fee
which they just put in writing in their response, is exactly what they are doing. Lonk - ( New Window )
Well that's NY and I'm in MD so not sure I can use that. Can't find anything similar in MD>
What is an HSA credit card? You get a monthly bill to pay? How do you pay it out of your HSA funds?
Jim, it's a master card associated with my HSA bank account. I contribute to the account through my employment. To pay a medical charge, instead of writing a check, I authorize a charge to my HSA master card. It makes payments so easy.
Thing is, I don't ever recall paying any fees or surcharges for this convenience.
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What is an HSA credit card? You get a monthly bill to pay? How do you pay it out of your HSA funds?
Jim, it's a master card associated with my HSA bank account. I contribute to the account through my employment. To pay a medical charge, instead of writing a check, I authorize a charge to my HSA master card. It makes payments so easy.
Thing is, I don't ever recall paying any fees or surcharges for this convenience.
Then it's a debit card. My HSA card is a VISA, but it's a debit card that draws directly from my HSA account.
Burden? Its the cost of doing business. You dont have to accept cards at all. Im curious on that 10k in fees How much credit card volume are you doing?
Then it's a debit card. My HSA card is a VISA, but it's a debit card that draws directly from my HSA account.
Yeah, technically I guess it's a debit card because monies are withdrawn directly from the account. I don't make any monthly payments on it.
This junk fees bs. Stop using that card.
This junk fees bs. Stop using that card.
The card isn’t charging the fee. His physical therapist is charging the fee on any card he uses, credit or debit.
This junk fees bs. Stop using that card.
If their system doesn't differentiate, they will pay the same fees.
3.9% is not exorbitant. That's likely around what their processing fee actually is.
People bitching about businesses passing along the credit card fee are ridiculous. Pay cash if you don't like it. The ones bitching about the credit card fees clearly have zero idea how much money small business are losing as a result and with the insane inflation and costs of everything theres just no way they can keep taking it on the chin
And ironically, even if they ARE allowed to charge the HSA or Debit (not clear here).
Look at what they CANNOT do...
Businesses CANNOT:
Charge a separate line items:
- convenience fee
- service fee
- administrative fee
which they just put in writing in their response, is exactly what they are doing. Lonk - ( New Window )
Erie County must hate small businesses, particularly restaurants, with this fucking bullshit that they passed. Whoever passed this nonsense is going to be responsible when many restaurants go under as a result
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as a retail business owner (retiring fFriday) I will say that credit card fees are a substantial burden. I am paying 10k a month in fees and I am still in a higher percentage cash customers than most. We have gone from 65% cash just 10 years ago to 70% cards today.
Burden? Its the cost of doing business. You dont have to accept cards at all. Im curious on that 10k in fees How much credit card volume are you doing?
It's not "the cost of doing business" People dont have to use credit cards, they can easily use cash and not pay the fee. I have a restaurant and I pass along 3% on every credit card transaction. I would have gone under if I didn't. We can't keep raising prices so we had to look at other areas.
If people want to keep small businesses around, they need to stop bitching about credit card fees being passed along or simply pay with cash.
Reporting a small business for this is absolutely asinine
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Looks like there were some changes this February.
And ironically, even if they ARE allowed to charge the HSA or Debit (not clear here).
Look at what they CANNOT do...
Businesses CANNOT:
Charge a separate line items:
- convenience fee
- service fee
- administrative fee
which they just put in writing in their response, is exactly what they are doing. Lonk - ( New Window )
Erie County must hate small businesses, particularly restaurants, with this fucking bullshit that they passed. Whoever passed this nonsense is going to be responsible when many restaurants go under as a result
It’s not a county law - it’s a state law.
That’s for credit cards. He was using a debit card which has fees that are a small fraction of that.
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And debit cards should have much lower transaction costs than a credit card.
This junk fees bs. Stop using that card.
If their system doesn't differentiate, they will pay the same fees.
3.9% is not exorbitant. That's likely around what their processing fee actually is.
People bitching about businesses passing along the credit card fee are ridiculous. Pay cash if you don't like it. The ones bitching about the credit card fees clearly have zero idea how much money small business are losing as a result and with the insane inflation and costs of everything theres just no way they can keep taking it on the chin
Yeah, I don’t have issues with businesses charging a fee for CC’s, why should they have to absorb the cost? But charging a fee for a debit card, which typically doesn’t charge fees, is BS.
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as a retail business owner (retiring fFriday) I will say that credit card fees are a substantial burden. I am paying 10k a month in fees and I am still in a higher percentage cash customers than most. We have gone from 65% cash just 10 years ago to 70% cards today.
Burden? Its the cost of doing business. You dont have to accept cards at all. Im curious on that 10k in fees How much credit card volume are you doing?
It comes to about 3% and it is a burden as are all costs of doing business . I thought about raising prices about 2% and giving a cash discount but I decided to just sell the business and retire.
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In comment 16558698 cosmicj said:
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And debit cards should have much lower transaction costs than a credit card.
This junk fees bs. Stop using that card.
If their system doesn't differentiate, they will pay the same fees.
3.9% is not exorbitant. That's likely around what their processing fee actually is.
People bitching about businesses passing along the credit card fee are ridiculous. Pay cash if you don't like it. The ones bitching about the credit card fees clearly have zero idea how much money small business are losing as a result and with the insane inflation and costs of everything theres just no way they can keep taking it on the chin
Yeah, I don’t have issues with businesses charging a fee for CC’s, why should they have to absorb the cost? But charging a fee for a debit card, which typically doesn’t charge fees, is BS.
Not sure where people get the idea that debit cards don’t have fees. They can be just as much as CC fees and sometimes more as a percentage depending on the amount of the purchase.
And it's not as simple as "they should get a better system". Small businesses are hanging on by a thread currently, especially restaurants. There simply isnt extra money right now for just about everyone.