Banking practices in general here are really slow and greatly in need of upgrade and updating.
Still I have noticed efforts by most of the commercial banks in Jamaica in the last few years to upgrade their debit cards to ensure customers have access to Visa card payments. However what is also needed is updating of the actual POS card machines. Although some are now using the tap feature for contactless payments. Chip and pin has long been introduced but the minimum card payment amounts and fees are still discouraging customers from adopting a card only, cash free lifestyle.
This is inconvenient to customers who either are forced to use an ABM to withdraw cash for small purchases or most times seem to be expected to buy more.
There are no minimum payment amounts in the UK. All card payments are accepted at POS as long as funds are available.
And there are too many inconsistencies in the processes here, for example within one organisation Eg. Hi-Low supermarkets at the branch in Fairview, Montego Bay the minimum card payment is $350 at Church Street, in Montego Bay its $500 and if its still the same at the Head Office location in Crossroads its $300.
If a person is a regular customer, and a loyalty card holder, as I am, when visiting different branches one would expect the same service standards at each store. But it seems that each store operates independently of the other, with their own rules applied where it relates to card payments. The problem is that this is very inconvenient and inconsistent to their customers.
I went into the store in a hurry one lunchtime to buy a quick snack and it wasn't convenient at all. I was drawn almost into an argument that ended in an impromptu training session. Where I had to play the role of Trainer and/or Supervisor and with the help of the Manager, eventually we were able to resolve the issue. With a card payment that was just slightly under the minimum amount, but not enough funds available at that time to purchase anything else.
I was asked to give them the silver coins that made up the amount of minimum spend to $350. This seemed to make up all of the difference to them but made no sense to me! Still I was in a hurry and with limited time to spare I moved on.
I would like to really enquire what is the actual fee for merchants when processing a card payment? I have been told it varies, it seems difficult to confirm the actual figures?
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