Credit Card Swipe Fees Begin Sunday In USA

An anonymous reader writes "A speedbump on the road to a cash-free economy will go into effect Sunday in the U.S., as retailers in 40 states will have the option of passing along a surcharge to customers who pay with credit cards. The so-called swipe fees arose from the settlement of a seven-year lawsuit filed by retailers against Visa, Mastercard, and big banks, who collect an electronic processing fee averaging 1.5 to 3 percent on transactions involving credit cards. The banks naturally have opposed the consumer surcharges, preferring that the extra costs to be passed along in the form of higher prices. Consumers in ten states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Texas) won't be affected, since laws in those states forbid the practice (it seems that gasoline station owners here in Massachusetts got a different memo, though). Also, the surcharges won't be collected for debit or prepaid cards."

Comments

Re:Retailers pay your visa rewards

[way2trivial]

I am a small merchant, I do take credit cards.

Prior to change, of my 1.3 million in sales, about 900k was in plastic each year.

3 years ago, I started offering a 3% cash discount (cash discounts were allowable all along)
now my plastic sales come in under 400k, and my net sales are comparable....

My guests decide to pay or not..
some do it for the miles... some do it 'cause it's a work issued card... it works for me and my clientel

Re:I'm curious to see how many retailers actually

[AK Marc]

Having been to places where they can charge surcharges, large chains with ties to the US, grocery stores and gas stations will not surcharge, but small restaurants and owner run shops will charge the surcharge.