Settlement Allows Retailers to Add ‘Checkout Fees’ for Credit Card Purchases

Retailers in most states now have the option to charge a fee to consumers who pay with a credit card. The new "checkout fee," in effect since Jan. 27, is the result of a multibillion dollar settlement announced last summer between credit card issuers and millions of merchants. Visa, MasterCard and nine major banks agreed to pay $7.25 billion to settle charges that they were fixing credit card processing fees. Credit card issuers agreed as part of the deal to reduce the "swipe fees" that merchants pay to issuers when cards are used, but only for eight months.