The Shrine

Just so you all know, not sure how many of you are the bar-hopping type but those of you who do par-take in this ritualistic hop from one place filled with women who should wear "I'm kinda a big deal" t-shirts, the next time you see a sign above the bar that says "$xx.xx minimum on all CC tabs" call the number on the back of your card and REPORT THOSE FUCKERS!!! What they are doing is illegal and violates merchant agreements with all the major CC cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express). Don't let these fuckers get away with gouging you for already over priced beer/liquor. Tell the manager first of course but if they don't comply, be a prick about it. You are doing your fellow clubbers a favor.

Ive seen places other than just bars that require minimum purchases to use a credit card,m even gas stations. I think there is a charge to them per transaction and they're just making sure they don't lose money for letting you use a credit card. As long as it's reasonable (5 bucks?) I don't see the big deal.

More details here.

It is illegal for any business to put any requirements or restrictions on paying with a credit card-- this includes minimum prices and charging extra for one. By illegal I mean VISA/et al may pull their membership and they won't be able to submit CC purchases anymore. If you report them to VISA or whomever you can almost guarantee the sign/requirement will be down inside a week because as much as some businesses hate credit cards they can't really live without them anymore either. The trick is that yes, transactions cost, what, 2% to go through so businesses don't like that cutting into their bottom line because someone bought a stick of gum with a credit card. The biggest and most common loophole is having a reduced price for cash... don't ask me how they allowed such a glaring loophole, but that is technically allowed and you'll see that around every now and then.