There must be a way to pay without fee. It might be more work for you, but it’s definitely more work for them, hence the “convenience” aspect of the fee.
In the US, some citizens go to physical locations to pay fines in coins. Hundreds of dollars in coins is very inconvenient to the establishment but they have to legally accept it. Sends a clear message to them that they suck ass.
History lesson: in 1990 I worked at a computer store. If you paid by credit card you paid the listed price. If you paid with cash, you got the CASH DISCOUNT price.
Soon MasterCard and VISA went to court to prevent the cash discount practice.
Soon after, points and cash-back credit cards came out
It’s so messed up that some states legally allow merchants to charge a “credit card fee”. Providers of services much like the above can charge if it’s a debit, credit, etc. even if they both say “Visa” on them. The concept of money in the US is so obfuscated now.
That’s because every credit card swipe carries a fee of about 2.75%, and that comes out of company profit, so they are recouping that fee. They want you to pay for the processing fee, not them.
As near as I can tell, it’s still free to send them a paper check, and that has to be the most expensive form of processing, and the least convenient for them, so send a check, and really piss them off.
For insurance your bill is typically for the next month instead of the previous month like utilities. At that point it’s not a debt, so they can refuse whatever payment method they want.
Similar to how stores can refuse bills over $20 or refuse a bucket of pennies.
There must be a way to pay without fee. It might be more work for you, but it’s definitely more work for them, hence the “convenience” aspect of the fee.
In the US, some citizens go to physical locations to pay fines in coins. Hundreds of dollars in coins is very inconvenient to the establishment but they have to legally accept it. Sends a clear message to them that they suck ass.
History lesson: in 1990 I worked at a computer store. If you paid by credit card you paid the listed price. If you paid with cash, you got the CASH DISCOUNT price.
Soon MasterCard and VISA went to court to prevent the cash discount practice.
Soon after, points and cash-back credit cards came out
There are several gas stations who offer a cash price that is about 10 cents a gallon cheaper than the credit card price.
It’s so messed up that some states legally allow merchants to charge a “credit card fee”. Providers of services much like the above can charge if it’s a debit, credit, etc. even if they both say “Visa” on them. The concept of money in the US is so obfuscated now.
That’s because every credit card swipe carries a fee of about 2.75%, and that comes out of company profit, so they are recouping that fee. They want you to pay for the processing fee, not them.
As near as I can tell, it’s still free to send them a paper check, and that has to be the most expensive form of processing, and the least convenient for them, so send a check, and really piss them off.
You can mail a check but postage aint free
You can always mail a check, right? Isn’t that still a thing?
According to whom? As far as I’m aware, there’s no such law in the US regarding private companies. So they can be jerks if they want to.
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-a-convenience-fee-or-pay-to-pay-fee-en-2126/
They can charge fees, as long as there is an alternate way to pay without a fee. Usually it’s by check in the mail.
Who cares about laws if no one will enforce them? No consumer protection, no more watch dogs, it’s all but legal now.
Which is most likely defined in their terms.
For insurance your bill is typically for the next month instead of the previous month like utilities. At that point it’s not a debt, so they can refuse whatever payment method they want.
Similar to how stores can refuse bills over $20 or refuse a bucket of pennies.