>>both of which are illegal in the USA according to mc and visa

Xyz123, policies that companies decide are not the same as laws, so "illegal" is not the correct word<<

According to my wife (who is a 20 year Visa employee) it violates Visa's operating regulations in the US. Perhaps that's the correct "word".

Stu Dudley

....noted and logged.

... which means that the merchant can be excluded from the Visa system. Unfortunate for the merchant, but no fine or prison time involved.

As long as we're talking semantics, this is one that I have been thinking about.

"Illegal" is not a term of art. Some here seem to be using it to mean only a violation of criminal law. Others may be using it to mean a violation of a contract. If a court makes a decision that a contract has been breached according to the laws of the jurisdiction, then that breach is illegal.

If the merchant is only disregarding an internal operating regulation of VISA, then there is no illegality as I see it. But if the merchant has a contract with VISA that includes following those operating regulations, and a court would enforce the contract, then the law becomes involved. The law says you have to honor your contracts; therefore a breach is illegal.