Reply
Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,233
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

The "WHY" is that the seller wants to be paid for its part in displaying and selling the items and the card company wants to be paid for its part in keeping track of your money.

 

BUT -  I really don't care all that much about why they charge me whether they charge $5 or $10!  Neither is an amount I'm willing to pay -  if I can't find a card I want to give that has no fee, I'm writing a check; that way the cost is my card and its stamp.   I actually prefer checks to gift cards because very rarely does the recipient put the money into a drawer and forget s/he has it!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,354
Registered: ‎11-24-2011

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

Your post made me read the fine print on the packaging of the 2 I bought this morning in re to charges. It says US Bank will deduct from your balance an inactivity fee of $2.00 per month after 12 consecutive months of inactivity, except where prohibited by law. Hhmmm, perhaps next year I'll reconsider getting these cards after reading some of these posts and stick to the ones from specific stores.


@Tribesters wrote:

I don’t buy them because of the fee. At least that fee is paid up front. DH received a gift card last year for $100. It wasn’t a store card but some sort of MasterCard/Visa card. He went to use it & it was declined. When we checked into it the card had been purchased several months before Xmas. The fine print said there was a monthly fee every month. So by the time he went to use it in February it was down to around $70. I called & complained. I went to NYS attorney general website & it said it was illegal to do this to gift cards in NY state. The company pretty much refused to do anything about it. So read the fine print before you buy gift cards...


 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,498
Registered: ‎03-26-2010

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

Wow, 9.00??  I just bought a few and they are usually 3.95, maybe 4.95, never seen them for 9.00..that seems ridiculous 🤪

Take time every day to enjoy where you are without a need to fix it
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,628
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

I would love to give cash.  But I’m not sending cash through the mail.

And some of my relatives don’t have bank accounts and cannot cash a check. They can’t cash the check at my bank because there aren’t any  branches in their state.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,612
Registered: ‎10-25-2010

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

I buy and use VISA or Mastercards card often.  I get them at my credit union for no charge, or Sams’s Club, no fees either.

 

the cards at Sam’s club have to be activated by the party receiving them.  You can keepthem for years and activate them only when you need them without paying a fee or losing money on them. I usually have one in my wallet for mad money.  I buy $100 worth of $25 cards in a sealed clamshell.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,140
Registered: ‎06-19-2010

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

The simplest thing to do is write a check.  I can't imagine paying extra for a gift card.

“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore to be happy”. (By Nightbirde, singer of the song, It’s Ok)
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,201
Registered: ‎10-07-2013

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

Why?  Because they can.  If no one buys them, they'll probably stop. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,284
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

TD Bank doesn't charge a fee for them, but they only sell them to bank customers.

 

If you don't hav an account with them, you can't buy them at all. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,504
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: Why Does MasterCard, Visa Etc. Charge An Extra Fee For There Gift Cards?

[ Edited ]

@cuddlesmama wrote:

I usually don't buy GC but this year I am stumped for one of my relatives and was going to get him a Mastercard GC so her could buy what  he wanted  but I noticed a $9.00 fee to buy it  written on the top of the card. What do these cards charge a fee and others are free? 


 

 

There are a lot of different MC and Visa GC/Prepaid cards in stores, and you can purchase them online too. There are periodic articles done on the ones that are recommended as having minimal fees.  Google “no fee gift cards.”  The lowest fee is about $6. You can think of it as a convenience fee, for being able to go into a store, buy it and hand it over.  BEWARE of the fine print on some cards that lets them deduct $5-$10/mo for not using the card, so the value of the card goes down each month you don’t use it.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all