Originally Posted by Lij

Apparently another poster agreed that the company takes 2-3% cut of the purchase. Assuming that tuition is about $5000 per student, that's a $100 loss for the university.

VISA and MC take 2%, AMEX takes 4%. So the school would get raped pretty hard for anyone paying by AMEX especially, but also the others.

Originally Posted by jhan523

It's another word for debit.

Most banks now have the online interac option, which I think is what he was referring to.

Originally Posted by jhan523

McMaster is a research university, all they really care about is making money. They make money off students to pay for the research. Professors teach in order to get grants from the university. So I truly believe McMaster is here just to make money.

All McMaster wants to do is to "waste" as little amount of money as possible in order to keep the students happy. Sustainability not only make students happy but it also helps them cut down costs. The digital meter itself probably uses as much power as your calculator.

I would say that the use of credits to pay tuition would also keep students happy. I don't think the new water fountains would fall under "sustainability". They replaced the perfectly working water fountains with new digital ones. That does nothing but waste money.

Originally Posted by reeves

Most banks now have the online interac option, which I think is what he was referring to.

Yeah, I mean it works in the same way as normal debit does. That's why it has a limit. Paying online by interac doesn't require you to go through your bank's secure website. That's why the limit still exists (in my opinion, I'm not actually 100% sure. Just throwing out some theories) where as online banking uses your bank's secure website. On top of that paying a bill and paying interac isn't quite the same.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

I would say that the use of credits to pay tuition would also keep students happy. I don't think the new water fountains would fall under "sustainability". They replaced the perfectly working water fountains with new digital ones. That does nothing but waste money.

Not all the fountains have bottle filling stations. Installing fountains that do could theoretically increase the number of students who would opt for using re-usable bottles instead of disposable ones.

I said the university wants to make students happy while spending the LEAST amount of money as possible. Clearly credit cards would cost a GREAT amount of money, or if they make the students pay then the students wouldn't be happy anymore.

okay, so maybe i'm missing something, but can someone explain why paying by credit cards is so much better than paying via cheque or online banking??

'Cause the way I see it, you're going to have to pay that credit card bill with a cheque or online banking anyways...right? so...what's the difference?

Originally Posted by Kathy2

Why do you assume only 5000 students would pay with credit card? My guess would be that it would be a lot more than that.
I think sometimes the school should have to put money into things that help students. Mac isn't here just to make money. They need to be some sort of decent service to the students.

I'm not saying they should charge students or take the money out of another service, but I'm sure there's something they could figure out. Mac wastes so much money (ie. water fountains that digitally count how many water bottles the water fountain has refilled), I'm sure they could figure out a way to let us pay with credit cards.

That would be the low estimate. The more students that pay with credit card, the more money they lose.

I agree that Mac spends its money on stupid things, but typically you can't buy large items such as cars or houses with credit card because it lowers the profit margin (not to mention the interest payments would be killer). Most universities don't accept credit cards (including U of T) for that reason.

Edit:

Mac isn't here to make money, but the money saved from not using credit cards can be invested into research, new facilities, etc for students

Originally Posted by etoilex3

okay, so maybe i'm missing something, but can someone explain why paying by credit cards is so much better than paying via cheque or online banking??

'Cause the way I see it, you're going to have to pay that credit card bill with a cheque or online banking anyways...right? so...what's the difference?

A lot of credits cards have benefits; cash back, air miles, points, etc...

You could rack a ton of points by using your credit card. But it doesn't offset the 2% charge, that's why it's not something that people want to pay for.

Originally Posted by jhan523

A lot of credits cards have benefits; cash back, air miles, points, etc...

You could rack a ton of points by using your credit card. But it doesn't offset the 2% charge, that's why it's not something that people want to pay for.

lol, if i could pay for tuition with my credit card I would've had enough points to go to England. =p

Originally Posted by jhan523

A lot of credits cards have benefits; cash back, air miles, points, etc...

You could rack a ton of points by using your credit card. But it doesn't offset the 2% charge, that's why it's not something that people want to pay for.

Ah, i see, thanks. I guess that's what would make it appealing to use credit cards to pay tuition. But do you think there's more room for error with paying with credit cards i.e. use of stolen credit cards, transactions not going through?

Originally Posted by etoilex3

okay, so maybe i'm missing something, but can someone explain why paying by credit cards is so much better than paying via cheque or online banking??

'Cause the way I see it, you're going to have to pay that credit card bill with a cheque or online banking anyways...right? so...what's the difference?

Reward points, air miles, GOOD CREDIT, and if you pay it off by the end of the month, no interest on it. I'd love to pay with my credit card.

Originally Posted by jhan523

A lot of credits cards have benefits; cash back, air miles, points, etc...

You could rack a ton of points by using your credit card. But it doesn't offset the 2% charge, that's why it's not something that people want to pay for.

im pretty sure its 5%

ps - You can't use html in the thread title.

Originally Posted by Nino

ps - You can't use html in the thread title.

I didn't do that, I got a PM saying jhan523 changed it.

And I don't see why Mac can't make it happen when the previous institution I was at did.

Originally Posted by etoilex3

Ah, i see, thanks. I guess that's what would make it appealing to use credit cards to pay tuition. But do you think there's more room for error with paying with credit cards i.e. use of stolen credit cards, transactions not going through?

I don't think that's the problem, as long as you have enough of a credit limit to pay it should be fine.

Originally Posted by chappy89

im pretty sure its 5%

As stated earlier by Reeves, It's 2% for Visa and MC and 4% for AMEX.

Originally Posted by drew4008

I didn't do that, I got a PM saying jhan523 changed it.

And I don't see why Mac can't make it happen when the previous institution I was at did.

By bad, I have an awfully bad habit of double clicking links due to impatience. But when you double click the thread space (not the actual link) it automatically edits the title. So when I leave the page it saves it. Happens a couple times but I always fix it so no worries.

As I said, McMaster is primarily a research institute (in my eyes anyways). They don't care about students and it would cost them too much to implement the system.