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I wonder if they do not have a credit card reader/scanner and instead are entering the info. manually in to a web form like we would do if we are shopping online.
Merchants get the best rates for credit card transactions when they swipe the card. This is why you're seeing swipers for smart phones. You could enter the data manually but the bank would rather you swipe it.
Even if they were entering it manually they wouldn't need that much info.
I hate arbitrary and I hate deception. If they are lying and building a mailing list then I've got a problem with that. If they are doing it for no good reason then I have a problem with that too.
Merchants get the best rates for credit card transactions when they swipe the card. This is why you're seeing swipers for smart phones. You could enter the data manually but the bank would rather you swipe it.
Even if they were entering it manually they wouldn't need that much info.
I hate arbitrary and I hate deception. If they are lying and building a mailing list then I've got a problem with that. If they are doing it for no good reason then I have a problem with that too.
I hate the deception as well. I went shopping today at another local business and was not asked for any personal information such as my address and/or phone number.
I wonder if they do not have a credit card reader/scanner and instead are entering the info. manually in to a web form like we would do if we are shopping online.
Even if the credit card number needs to be entered manually, like if the magnetic strip wasn't working or the business didn't have a reader, that personal information still wouldn't be required. Besides, the credit card has all of my information, so if a transaction was ever in dispute, they'd know how to contact me. And during a formal dispute, a business would be communicating with the credit card company not the cardholder.
As part of my job, I run credit cards often. The merchant services provider requires a billing street address as well as zip code to verify all keyed entries as ell as the cvv code. the card will process with the wrong zip and street number but not without the cvv code. BUT it costs our business and through trickle effect, our customers, a higher precentage in fees when the street number and/or zip are incorrect. Plus, some credit/debit issuing banks require additional information even on swiped cards, American Express for example will ask for a zip on all company credit cards, swiped or keyed. We do not maintain a database for spam or marketing. We don't even retain the information after the sale is processed.
With more and more people paying for everything with credit/debit cards ( I actually had someone want to charge $0.45, yes fourty-five cents, on a debit... I just told him to take the merchandise... it would have cost more to process the transaction) the fees that merchant companies charge are multiplying due to credit card fraud.
I cannnot speak for other retailers, only our small mom and pop operation, but we don't ask to be annoying or to build a database, we ask because we are trying to keep our fees and your prices down.
The retailer is stuck in the middle here. We want to provide goods/services to our customers. Customers want to pay with credit/debit cards and checks. If we accept these payment forms, we are trusting the customer to uphold their end of the purchase agreement. The few purchasers who cannot uphold their end of the agreement when the payment is processed cost the millions who do. Banks don't care about how companies get the required information, they just decline payment if the information is incorrect or incomplete. Here the retailer sits... in the middle.... the merchandise/service is in the hands of the consumer and the payment is at the bank.
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