You might want to think twice before whipping out your credit card. As of Sunday, stores in most states could start charging you a "checkout fee" when you pay for something with plastic.The new fees stem from a multi-billion dollar settlement announced in July between credit card issuers and millions of merchants.Visa, MasterCard and nine major banks agreed to a $7.25 billion deal to settle charges that they were fixing credit card processing fees. As part of the settlement, credit card issuers said they would reduce these "swipe fees" -- fees paid by merchants to issuers when cards are used -- but only for eight months.In addition, the settlement also gave retailers the option to tack on a surcharge if a customer uses a credit card. The retailer can only charge enough to cover the processing costs, which is about 1.5 percent to 3 percent of the total purchase, according to watchdog group Consumer Action.
they are rigging the system to pay fines for, rigging the system
This fee doesn't apply to purchases made using debit cards. And it will still be illegal to charge the new fee in 10 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.
Many big players in the retail industry have been up in arms about the settlement. Stores from the nation's largest retailer down to small businesses have lamented the agreement, claiming that it transferred the wrongdoings of credit card issuers to the consumer.
this is why we need consumer regulatory republicans don't, it interferes with their gaming the system by milking "we the people".
