Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Charges for Credit Cards

Nothing is for nothing!

Free banking is an illusion, just bacause you don't see it doesn't mean you are not paying.

MSCC is a business, its profits are held to keep a reserve that, the accountants advise should be sufficient to cover un-insured losses should we face a couple of disasters. The Management Committee consider about 40% of turnover to be prudent. This is reviewed annually.

The payment of subscriptions generate an amount of debate that amazes me. If we put the Subs up by £2.00 and covered all inward payment costs the majority who pay by Direct Debit will complain. So we ask the Credit Card payers to pay for the convenience to them and our additional costs.

The overseas members should pay by debit, not credit, card but should not forget that within the Single European Payments Area a transfer by on-line banking costs almost nothing: I paid €560 to a French business using our personal banking on line system from Handlesbanken and it cost me £0.30. The exchange rate was also reasonable. It took about 2 min to reach the other account.

Details of the system SEPA

If your bank doesn't let you use this service from your on line connection then change banks!
FWIW, we find Handlesbanken a refreshing change. Proper banking, not a financial sales team.

The management consider 40% to be prudent.
What's the basis for this considered decision? Has there ever, in the history of the club, been a claim for uninsured losses?
Why not 50% or 200% or 10%?
It's a bit like a global warming thing isn't it?
Nick

"Nothing is for nothing.."

Well in my view 40 quid subscription buys " nothing very much" so I for one won't be renewing.

I will very soon be one of those nuisance members that paid by Credit Card...

Some see things different than others...
40% ... waiting for an EU-penalty on violating CreditCard payment rules??

It's interesting the different things that infuriate members of organizations. I can't comment on MSCC subs (mine is an annual gift from my mum ) but I do have a perspective on the reserve fund and payment processing fees.

I sit on the board of a local Children's Choir (in which various of my offspring sing). It's a non-profit organization, most of whose income comes from tuition/membership fees, with additional income from grant funding from government and charity bodies, concert ticket sales and sundry fundraising initiatives.

The umbrella organization for Ontario choirs, in lockstep with the two largest grant-funding bodies supporting arts organizations, suggest that around six months' operating budget (so around 50% of annual revenues) be held in reserve. This seems very sensible to me - we wouldn't ever want to have to use that, but if, for example, we lost performance or rehearsal spaces (not our own - we rent concert venues as needed and rehearse in a local church hall) or there was a reason we couldn't collect revenues from one of our primary streams, we would need a cushion about htat size to keep us solvent until we could get sorted out.

We've recently rolled out an online registration tool (mainly to save the huge volume of paperwork and data entry by our long-suffering administrator) and started taking credit card subs. We had a long debate about passing on credit card processing fees, but in the end decided that we'd make an educated guess on how many people would choose to pay by card, and try to include the addition cost to the Choir within a modest annual fee increase. My view during the discussions was that it seemed counterproductive to charge people extra for something whose prime aim was convenience to the Choir rather than the Membership.

Paypal, as Martyn pointed out up-thread, is where the real fees are hiding. We sell concert tickets through a paypal-enabled portal, and the Paypal fees (for tickets around the $20 - $30 range) are astronomical, with a high fixed minimum that makes a significant dent in revenues if tickets are sold singly rather than in blocks of four or more. We have, in fact, started to pass on Paypal charges to ticket purchasers.

And don't get me started on monetising audio/video recordings online. We used to sell a handful of CDs an occasionally put a video compilation together. We're not nearly big enough to bother the likes of iTunes or to generate significant YouTube ad revenues, most of our online music is sold to the likes of Granny and Aunty Ethel so they can watch Little Johnny sing his solo. But we want to make a little extra money... Shopify seems to be the platform of choice, so we have one an alumna, just about to start her first year studying for an electronics engineering undergrad, "gaining some real-world experience" by implementing that over her summer vacation right now...

Death, fees and taxes.

They all get you some way.

It might be interesting to know what the cash in hand reserves are as this needs to be added to the 40% to reach the figure the committee are frightened of...........is there a history of claims? My question unanswered so far......
Nick

I've haven't had a car accident for 30 years, but I still insure myself. I suspect a similar logic is being used. The excess for loss of life or limb at events probably requires a cash reserve being accrued. Just guessing.

I seem to remember in the early 70's when credit cards were introduced, it was against the law in the UK to charge extra for their use. The banks soon "convinced" the government to change their minds.

Tony

My memory is that it was the other way around. The banks successfully petitioned to make it illegal for retailers to charge more for accepting their cards. The law was later repealed.

The problem is any such law is not really workable as anyone paying cash can simply ask for a discount.

~iw