Recently, many large credit card issuers made it legal for merchants to charge the customer a ‘checkout fee’ when they swipe a credit card. The ‘checkout fee’, also known as a surcharge fee, is paid by merchants in order to cover the processing of credit cards that are swiped every day. Retailers will not be able to charge more than the processing fee, which is normally around 1.5 to 3% of the purchase, if they choose to institute the charge. A Bank of America employee says that because the charging of this fee has been left up to the merchant’s discretion, the banks will not be able to tell where a customer may encounter the extra charge.

“My credit card use would be affected the most at the gas station. It would make me have to go in to pay rather than just pay at the pump. Also, it would affect my smaller purchases because if I was being charged extra for a small amount than I would not want to make that purchase,” says Julia Taglione (‘13). The use of credit cards will most likely decrease with the new risk of an extra charge. “People might want to use cash instead of credit,” says Alex Roat (‘16). Although customers are very much affected by this fee, merchants are put in a tough spot as well. They either choose to charge the consumers, which risks the amount of customers that choose to shop at their business, or continue paying their credit card processing fees, merchants should be aware of the potential impact of fees on their bottom lin.. Credit card users can benefit from the tips given by https://creditrewardperks.com/las-vegas/. In ten states, the charge is illegal. This does not include Delaware, so always be prepared for the extra expense while checking out.