Hel

I am buying an STI8 and have already paid the deposit using my AMEX card(which has 2% cash back - thats right 2% - i think its a good rate because I also have a Corporate card with them for work too)

I was wondering if anyone else has paid for their car with AMEX (or mastercard or any "credit" card). If so, did they charge you a fee eg do they get charged 1% themselves. If the amount they get charged is < 2% then its worth me paying the fee for them(if I have to)

eg car = 25000
if fee = 1.5% then cashback I can effectively get = 0.5% (2%-1.5%) = £125. Plus I get to keep the money in ny account for 1 month (3% of 25000 = 750, so 1 month would be approx £60 interest.

Has anyone else done this


from
Paul G

Tiggs

yes- as you describe

asifR1

i have an amex blue and tried to get a temp increase to pay 12g car balance for some money back but they wouldn't have it

not even if i paid the money first, said it was money laundering!!!

Edward

Retailers pay a fee for processing credit card payments. Amex will normally charge a retailer more than 2%.

Cheers

Edward.

Stu_WRX

I have Amex and wanted to pay for my car with it but the fee was too much.

Stu...

Warwick-hunt

i don't understand, how can amex charge you a fee for using the card,

londonpaul

I bought my STi on an Amex credit card and got the 2% back for exactly that reason. Bloody brilliant card - use it for every purchase I possibly can, if they dont take amex, I get 1% cash back on a Morgan Stanley mastercard. If you dont run balances surely this is the best pair of cards to own

Stu_WRX

Amex charge the dealer.

Hel

Tiggs - if you did pay using AMEX what rate did the garage pass onto you (1%, 1.5% etc)

asifR1 - I can understand AMEX not wanting to grant a temporary increase, but I don't see how they can stop you paying money into your account so that there are sufficient funds available(and others seem to have managed to do it), The only difference is that mine is not a Blue card.

Edward - you say that the garage will normally be charged more than 2% - is this a guestimate or is it based on first hand experience

londonpaul - whats the saying - "great minds think alike". I have to same as you except I have a goldfish card(which earns approx 1%).

P.S. anyone with a goldfish card, if you have any points, look into redeeming them this month as the amount of points you need to get your £10 voucher etc is changing for some vouchers in May

I don't to get harp on about this, but if I can do it then I could potentially earn £500 in commission/points

thanks for everyones comments
from
Paul G

Edward

Hel, I know that in most instances the rate Amex charge the retailer will be more than 2%. For some low profit margin businesses (i.e. petrol stations), it will be around 1.9%.

If Amex can give customers 2% cashback they must generally charge retailers more than 2%.

I use a Halifax Mastercard with 1% cashback (no yearly fee and I pay the balance off every month).

The best non Amex at the moment is Accucard www.accucard.com who offer 1.6% cashback for the first 6 months and then 0.8% thereafter.

Edited to add: Many dealers may wary of selling you a car on a credit card as it gives you more rights to reject it.

E.


[Edited by Edward - 4/18/2003 10:32:47 PM]

GM

Many years ago I remember the dealer I bought a 2005 gti from spitting feathers because their accounts clerk had just let someone pay for their new car on plastic. The CC companies charges made a bit of a dent in the dealers profit

Trout

iTrader: (1)

The merchant fee for an Amex card is typically between 3-7% - this is why merchants hate taking Amex. Indeed you may have seen some shops charge you more for using Amex, or ask if you have another card that you can use.

Visa and Mastercard merchant fees are more variable - typically between 0.5-3% depending on the volume of the retail business. These fees are much more in line with cash and cheque processing fees.

Rannoch

londonpaul

they absolutely hate amex - it is a ridiculous card really, but whilst they are paying me money I don't lose sleep over the merchants problems. the really stupid card is the amex charge card - costs a fortune for the customer and the merchant and is basically useless, except for impressing vacuous ladies. I have two :-)