A new rule going into effect Sunday could cost you more when shopping with a credit card at some stores.
Visa and Mastercard have agreed to let merchants add a service charge equal to the cost of processing a credit transaction to the bottom line. The cost of processing is usually 1.5 to 3 perc cent, and merchants are capped at a 4 per cent fee under the agreement.
The rule change was made as part of settling an antitrust suit brought by retailers.
Charged: Retailers could soon add a fee up to 4 per cent for credit card transactions
Merchants will still not be allowed to add a surcharge to debit card transactions.
However, few stores seem interested in raising their customer’s costs.
‘We have discussed the settlement with many, many merchants, and not a single merchant we have spoken to plans to surcharge,’ said Craig Sherman, spokesman for the National Retail Federation, which was not involved in the lawsuit.
Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and Home Depot all told NBC News that they had no plans to add a credit card surcharge.
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas all ban credit card surcharges.
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