Posted on 09/14/2024 6:30:47 PM PDT by Red Badger
Three big retailers have found another way to make money from shoppers - charging them for something that has always been a free perk.
Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Kroger are charging customers between 50 cents and $3.50 to get cash back when they make a purchase, a study has revealed.
Competitors including Walmart, Albertsons and Target are still offering it for free.
Charging for cashback 'preys on shoppers' - especially those who rely on dollar stores, a Reddit user posted in reaction to the news.
'So many of their customers lack the car or the gas money to drive to a bank ATM in order to avoid these charges.'
Across the three chains, customers are paying $90 million a year in cash-back fees, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Americans with lower incomes or fewer local banking options are more likely to have to pay these fees, the CFPB found.
Dollar stores in particular are frequently located in small rural towns often with fewer branch locations where residents can get cash out for free, the watchdog warned.
Consumers can get cash back when they make a purchase at certain stores using a debit or prepaid card at the register.
Shoppers typically have to choose from options of pre-set withdrawal amounts presented at the payment terminal at the time they make a transaction.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I even asked them once if they could just put it back on the card and was told no they could do it with a credit card but not a debit.
Dollar stores are struggling.
Plus they are not a bank.
There is no reason why they should incur more expenses simply to handle someone’s banking needs.
When you buy something and pay with a debit or credit card you can ask for cash from the till at the end, usually limited to $10, $20 or $50 depending on store policy.
We used to get $50 for use on day trips to places within a hundred miles. Don’t need to any more since we live close to our credit union, but if it’s a weekend we may still need to..........................
Lol, it took me years to realize the grocery store cashback option was how my wife funded alot of her discretionary spending...and always had wads of cash in her purse.
ATMs from your primary Bank are the way to go.
Should the nearest [your Bank’s name here] ATM be a bit away, a small stash of ca$h at home will get the job done.
parsimonious
par·si·mo·ni·ous
/ˌpärsəˈmōnēəs/
adjective
unwilling to spend money or use resources; stingy or frugal.
"even the parsimonious Joe paid for drinks all round"
Now, if you would have used the word niggardly…..
What is this “cash” thing y’all are talking about?
That is pretty much what we do. We go get a larger amount from our bank and keep it in our home. When I need to break a big bill, I go buy a $1 item and get my change that way. I have no problem asking for smaller bills.
Lol.
I try to pay some things in cash, sometimes you find a rare coin or bill back. Today my wife was going through her change and found a mint bi-centennial quarter. With this economy only getting worse I suspect people will resort to spending their collections.
Right on. They are just trying to stay in business. People are so tight these days. I bought a used Apple TV device today at Goodwill for 8 bucks. It turned out to be a Generation 2 and wasn’t worth anything. I just donated it back to them. It’s not like I am rich or anything just that it’s a charitable contribution. I go there whenever I need an HDMI, USB or an Ethernet cable. They have so many cables it isn’t funny and at only one or two bucks yet people will go to Best Buy and spend 35 dollars for one. And they will squeeze the 50 cents fee for getting cash so tightly their hands will bleed.
The first time I used a bank machine was in 1984... It was free to use and the banks didn’t charge anything for the first couple of years... Then they figured it out... They started with a quarter... Now they’re charging several dollars. This used to be referred to as ‘Highway Robbery’ and that’s exactly what it is. People who provide convenience bank machines can and should charge money... When you use a bank machine at a bank, it cost them nothing and they actually save money by you using the machine... So why should they also profit from it?
[LOL]...
U R BAD......
Are people aware that the store pays a fee for every credit or debit purchase?
I don’t know this for a fact, but it seems logical that fee is higher when the debit card user gets additional cash with the purchase.
I know some small business that are now being forced by economics to pass along the processing fee in order to make a profit.
That cash rewards on your credit card is paid by the store. It’s not free money from the bank.
While all the vendors I use in my business accept credit cards, about half of them now charge the 3% processing fee.
When one supplier started doing that (sadly I was spending a lot of money with them and loving my 1.5% from the card company) the accounting department head told me they did an audit and found they paid $65,000 that year to the card processor. And their profit margin simply didn’t justify it.
This is economic reality. I haven’t used an ATM in 30 years and stopped getting cash back a long time also. Get $500 in 20s, put them in a file and use that as your ATM when you are short. Planning is not that difficult. If you can afford to get cash back from a debit card you can keep the same cash at home. There is no reason a business should pay a fee for you convenience.
thanks a lot. I knew what parsimonious means but my WIFE didn’t. now when she wants to spend and I want to save, she has a new word to call me. it does fit but still...damn.
I totally agree.
What if I use a debit card to pay for my groceries? I just enter my PIN and the money is directly debited from my account. There are no credit card fees involved.
This would essentially be turning the checkout register into an ATM. The store would have to hold much more cash on-sight to cover the over-withdrawals. I wonder if Kroger, et. al., are figuring they are losing interest earnings by having to keep the cash on-sight instead of being deposited in the bank?
Personally, I live too far from my credit union, so traditional banking is very inconvenient. I now go to my local supermarket and withdraw the maximum allowed cash from the on-network ATM to keep at home for pocket money.
I also now pay for my groceries with a credit card instead of my debit card to get the credit card benefits, and then pay off the balance at the end of the month. Does Kroger have to pay a merchant fee on my credit card store purchases that I was letting them avoid by using my debit card?
Will stores like Kroger start passing on the credit card fees to their customers in the future?
-PJ
Don't like living in a bank desert? Don't live there. Want bank service but don't have a bank account? Sounds like a personal problem looking for a big-government solution.
Bottom line - it suxks to be poor and have limited choices.
MPG, not MPH.
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