OK,
Here is some info from the sharp end, ie a flying school:
RBS Business Banking Direct: no fees for accounts in credit, no fees for paying in cheques, no fees for bank payments (ie bank transfers from students online or over telephone).
Guess who we use?
(Unfortunately, being sold to Santander because way back when the EU thought Spanish banks a safer bet than British ones! And last week Santander ended "free business banking FOREVER" for hundreds of thousands of its clients.)
Of course, one could have been with LLoydsTSB who used to charge us a tenner a month and 1% on all pay-ins.
Then we get to cards (where, of course, you can only get the money if you have a business account to pay it into. So if you were with LloydsTSB, then that is another 1% to add on...)
Most of the card companies are a bit reclusive about how they charge.
Some, like the company we are with, charge 35p a transaction for a debit card, and 3.5% for a credit card. Plus £20 a month.
Paypal publishes its charges - and make no difference for debit cards (so, is cheaper than our current provider for credit cards - but then dearer for debit cards! aaargh):
Paypal also charges £20 a month.
Then:
Processing fees per transactionPrint .
Transaction rates vary based on monthly income.
Monthly income Per transaction Monthly sales volume
Above £15,000.01 GBP 1.9% + £0.20 GBP Merchant Rate (qualification required)
£6,000.01 GBP - £15,000.00 GBP 2.4% + £0.20 GBP Merchant Rate (qualification required)
£1,500.01 GBP - £6,000.00 GBP 2.9% + £0.20 GBP Merchant Rate (qualification required)
£0.00 GBP - £1,500.00 GBP 3.4% + £0.20 GBP Standard rate
So, we don't take cards!
If people don't have the cash - ie in cash, funds in a cheque account, or funds in an account they can access with telephone/internet banking, then they can't have lessons with us. That's it. But it keeps our costs down.
Our gift voucher people take web payments, so have to take cards.
For one type of flight, they offer a £2 discount if people pay with debit card. I understand few do. (they would be better off paying for £100 with a DC since they get £2 off and the voucher people pay £0.35p instead of c£3.50, so are also better off by £1.50)
Win, win.
We are not Ryanair. We simply just don't take part in the card charge merry-go-round rip-off - even if you want to pay a supplement.
(Oh yes, and did I mention a new entrant to the market from Scandinavia who offers a cheaper rate - but then says in its T&Cs that you cannot offer to make it cheaper for people paying cash, cheques or bank transfers!)
Sorry, we aim to keep flying as affordable as possible, and thus have as much of your hard-earned cash in our hard-working pockets.
So lean and mean.
If you haven't guessed, we also use aircraft with Rotax 912s on unleaded.