Lower Fees for Online Card Payments

[Hendrik]

We use Lloyds Cardnet for online card payments (via SagePay) and I was just about to file the November statement from Lloyds when I noticed that we had paid nearly £600 for the month in fees. I have a dim and distant memory of talking to Lloyds many years ago about the rates they charge us, but nothing recently. So I rang them up and asked for a review of the fees they charge us. They came back with reductions across the board, e.g. MasterCard reduced from 3.365% to 1.99%. In these recessionary times, I think this will save us well over £1,000 pa, which is worth a phone call! If you don't ask, you don't get, I guess.

They have also reduced the fees for our Customer Not Present merchant account as well. All I need is for PayPal to give me a discount, and that will make my Christmas!

I am sure lots of you are all using much better deals than this already, but we bank with Lloyds, and have found the customer service very good, which counts for something in my book.

Hendrik

[Fairyglass]

All I need is for PayPal to give me a discount, and that will make my Christmas!)

Earlier this year if memory serves me right we applied for a reduction in our Paypal fees and were awarded it. It's called something like "merchant rates" or similar, which I didn't even know existed, but stumbled across in my account while looking for something else

We're also exploring the possibility of lower card rates by joining a trade association called the Giftware Association. They seem to have better rates than the FSB, but there's a membership cost, so it all depends on your volume. If you're a giftware retailer I'd suggest speaking to them.

Happy Christmas!