Paying by card in a sandwich shop

[galanthusgal 10]

You may well be tied into a fairly long term contract by the card people, so best be sure that going ahead is the right thing. Why don't you either ask your customers when they come in or have a pen and paper asking customers to tick the yes column or no column to the question: is having card payment facilities a good idea. That way they have something to do while they're queuing!

[Forumosaurus 10]

Post above - good idea.

 

But me personally, I believe the card thing is a good thing. I hardly ever carry money about so anytime I buy food from a shop, it has to accept cards.

 

The only thing that's putting me off it the minimum payment thing.

 

You know, let's just say, you're near a Subway, dunno if you are but let's just say you are. Now, if you had a card machine, and you had a minimum payment of 3 pound, you have no USP.

 

And being that Subway is much nicer than any independent Sandwhich shop, if you both had a minimum spend, I'd just go to subway.

 

However if you didn't have a minimum spend, I'd come to you, instead of subway, because I don't need to spend 3 quid.

 

Can you explain the minimum spend thing anyway do banks charge more for purchases under 3 quid because that seems to be the going rate in shops that apply the minimum spend rule which I hate by the way.

 

And another thing, if there wasn't a minimum spend at subway I'd literally be in there most weekdays, but since there is, and I don't carry cash, I hardly ever do.

 

The way I see it is, if there's a minimum spend of 3 quid, I may as well just pay half a quid more and get a McDonalds.

[cooljules 10]

Post above - good idea.

 

But me personally, I believe the card thing is a good thing. I hardly ever carry money about so anytime I buy food from a shop, it has to accept cards.

 

The only thing that's putting me off it the minimum payment thing.

 

You know, let's just say, you're near a Subway, dunno if you are but let's just say you are. Now, if you had a card machine, and you had a minimum payment of 3 pound, you have no USP.

 

And being that Subway is much nicer than any independent Sandwhich shop, if you both had a minimum spend, I'd just go to subway.

 

However if you didn't have a minimum spend, I'd come to you, instead of subway, because I don't need to spend 3 quid.

 

Can you explain the minimum spend thing anyway do banks charge more for purchases under 3 quid because that seems to be the going rate in shops that apply the minimum spend rule which I hate by the way.

 

And another thing, if there wasn't a minimum spend at subway I'd literally be in there most weekdays, but since there is, and I don't carry cash, I hardly ever do.

 

The way I see it is, if there's a minimum spend of 3 quid, I may as well just pay half a quid more and get a McDonalds.

 

your a bit sad arnt you....

 

subway better than any independent sandwich shop??????

[katy1981 10]

theres a small local fish and chip shop where i live and they have accepted cards for ages they do however charge 75p for using it which most dont seem to mind and i asked them a while ago if they found it beneficial and they said oh yes it was great as most people dont carry too much cash now, plus they open late and a lot of people at the pubs near it often have spent all their change in the pub and often call in for fish and chips and pay on their card as they cant be bothererd goin to a cash machine.

[cooljules 10]

theres a small local fish and chip shop where i live and they have accepted cards for ages they do however charge 75p for using it which most dont seem to mind and i asked them a while ago if they found it beneficial and they said oh yes it was great as most people dont carry too much cash now, plus they open late and a lot of people at the pubs near it often have spent all their change in the pub and often call in for fish and chips and pay on their card as they cant be bothererd goin to a cash machine.

 

that i can sort of understand...esp once everyone has spent up in the pub and got hungry. many a times happened to me.

[Redyam 10]

Genius.

So somewhere there's a record of every transaction you've made. The sooner you think about the privacy implications the better.

And that's ignoring the issues of people who don't have bank accounts, what happens when there's a power cut (you still need sandwiches), what happens when the bank systems fail, etc...

 

What would be ideal is a credit-card style payment system that you load up with cash from your bank, and can be used to quickly pay for small items like bus fairs, sandwiches etc. and leaves no trace of what you buy, just like cash.

 

The advantages being its quick and easy, and there's no need to fiddle with the right amount of money.

 

I think you've missed the point that most cash registers require power to operate, so a power-cut would affect cash transactions too.

[waggler 10]

I use cash to pay for my sandwich every lunch time. I go to the cash point at the start of the week to ensure I have enough.

if u dont av cash for a sarny and need a card u are a sad person---sorry

[nerd 10]

if u dont av cash for a sarny and need a card u are a sad person---sorry

 

I don't know about sad - sometimes people are out somewhere they don't expect to be and dont have change on them - and debit cards are basically just cash anyway, exept if your card gets stolen and you phone and cancel it you don't lose anything, whereas cash is gone for good

[Mags 12]

There are many things to take into account before you install a card machine.

Read the rules and small print supplied by the card machine company first before signing anything and be sure that you are happy to comply with all they ask for.

Take into account the actual costs of running the machine, it doesn't come free, you rent it or buy it and you have to insure it.

For small independent shops the usual cut to the card company is 4% of transactions.

The bank charges for each type of credit it makes to your business account so if each night you receive three types of payments it could cost you £1.80 or more.

You need a telephone line that will not be in use while you are using the machine this might interfere with you taking phone orders.

You have to buy the paper rolls, might sound mean but it is another cost.

The transactions take longer than a cash transaction, can you afford the time. Sometimes you have to telephone the card company because the machine tells you to, this takes a long time to complete and is very frustrating.

Having said all that, customers spend more when the shop takes cards just be sure that you can increase your sales, have you higher priced items they might buy?

The £3 minimum spend seems quite low but you need to look at your average spend at the moment.If your customers only spend £2.40 at the moment they will hardly want to spend £3 unless they see something they can't live without.

Finally you need to use precious time checking every slip to make sure you receive every amount banks do make mistakes.

Good luck

[Cyclone 10]

What would be ideal is a credit-card style payment system that you load up with cash from your bank, and can be used to quickly pay for small items like bus fairs, sandwiches etc. and leaves no trace of what you buy, just like cash.

 

The advantages being its quick and easy, and there's no need to fiddle with the right amount of money.

 

I think you've missed the point that most cash registers require power to operate, so a power-cut would affect cash transactions too.

 

A till can be worked around when there's no power.

A card only system can't.

 

There are cards that you load up as you suggest. But they can be lost just like cash, and in most cases I expect that it is still possible to link the payment and the owner. Oyster cards for example operate as you suggest, but getting one anonymously and then keeping it anonymous would be hard work.

[Greengeek 10]

Genius.

So somewhere there's a record of every transaction you've made. The sooner you think about the privacy implications the better.

And that's ignoring the issues of people who don't have bank accounts, what happens when there's a power cut (you still need sandwiches), what happens when the bank systems fail, etc...

 

I already know about the privacy implications.

It's the reason we don't have Clubcards, Nectar Cards, Travel cards etc. I've also put the tin foil hat away...

 

The financial institutions can already get pretty much any information about you they want. Same as these credit report agencies.

 

 

A lot of these terminals in use in shops now use battery power, and the phone line has it's own source of power so it's highly unlikely a power cut will take down the phone network. Many even use the telephone network. I've been involved with supplying terminals to areas with poor power feeds, and know the inner workings of these things.

 

Cash is obsolete and it needs taking out of circulation.

 

 

*edit.

 

Card systems can be worked around anyway. Don't you remember the machines which have a piece of carbon paper to take an imprint of the card, take a signature and it's as good as cash in the bank.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Greengeek