Credit Card Fees are a Part of YOU being in Business – STOP Charging Me!

I walked into a store recently, ready to spend good money. I wasn’t just browsing aimlessly – I had a clear purpose, took my time, and carefully selected what I wanted. After strolling the aisles and adding things to my basket, I stepped up to the counter expecting the normal rhythm of a transaction: total, card swipe, receipt.

Instead, the cashier looked at me and said, “If you pay with a credit card, we’ll have to add a 3-point-something percent fee to cover our processing costs.”

Excuse me?

That’s the cost of doing business! It’s no different from your rent, your insurance, your payroll, or your utility bills. You chose to run a business. Credit card acceptance is not some optional luxury in 2025 – it’s a basic customer expectation. And it’s not just for the customer’s convenience. It’s for you, too.

As a customer, I’m not here to underwrite your expenses. I’m here to purchase your product or service at the price you’ve told me it’s worth. Tacking on a surcharge at the register changes that agreement midstream – it feels like moving the goalposts after I’ve already decided to buy.

So, I did what any child of the 1990s would do. I pulled out my checkbook. (yes, I have one in the depths of my bag when I happen to be carrying it and not just my phone!)

“We don’t take checks,” she said.

No problem (with a frustrated eye roll by me) – I pulled out a $100 bill from my wallet. I don’t usually carry much cash anymore, but I keep a couple of large bills tucked away for emergencies.

“We don’t have change for that.”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY!

At that point, I simply walked out. Never to return.

Sale lost. Loyalty lost.

And yes – reputation damaged, because people talk. (I really want to tell you the name of the boutique but alas, I am being refrained).

Customers share experiences, good and bad. Word of mouth is still the most potent marketing force in existence, and it cuts both ways.

Here’s the irony: business owners who tack on credit card surcharges often justify it as “protecting their margins.” But they forget the bigger picture.

Numerous studies show that customers spend more when paying by credit card – typically 12–18% more per transaction. The psychology of paying with a card reduces the “pain of paying.” Customers buy more often, and they spend more per visit. This isn’t a theory; it’s measurable consumer behavior.

Paying by card feels easier, so people buy more, more often. When you slap a surcharge on it, you create friction where there should be flow. According to Ipsos, 17% of customers will stop shopping at a business that adds this fee, and 20% will either spend less or switch to cash. That’s not “protecting your margins” – that’s punching holes in your own revenue bucket.

Think about what that means. If 20% of your customers downgrade their spending, and 17% disappear altogether, your small “margin protection” fee just turned into a major revenue leak!  I know I will never go back to that boutique (one I loved and frequented often just months prior.)

Let’s talk about risk, too. I know some business owners romanticize the days of checks and cash. But a bounced check is a nightmare. It doesn’t just sting – it can cost 30–50% of the check’s value in bank fees, recovery time, and staff hours, and you still might never collect.

Suddenly, that 3% card fee doesn’t seem like such a villain. Cards clear instantly. They’re secure. The money gets deposited into your bank account immediately. They eliminate bad debt. They’re actually protecting your business more than they’re hurting it.

And cash? Cash has its own headaches. Counting, securing, transporting, storing – and in some cases, theft by employee or others. Plus, most customers simply don’t carry much cold-hard-cash anymore. Digital payments are the expectation.

So why on earth would you punish your customer for what payment method they choose considering it is also the easiest for you and most profitable for you! Crazy!*!

It’s like charging someone extra for breathing while shopping in your store.

That’s why I call surcharging short-sighted. Yes, it might feel satisfying to “pass the cost on” in the moment. But long term, it’s a hit to the customer experience, which is the foundation of your brand.

If your product is worth $100, then $100 is the price. Not $100 plus a surprise at the register. If your margins can’t handle the fees, adjust your prices slightly across the board. That way, every customer pays the same no matter how they choose to pay, no one feels singled out, and you maintain the sense of trust that keeps people coming back.

I’m a business owner too. I have $27 products, $1,500 products, $10,000 products. Yes, the credit card processor takes their cut. And yes, sometimes it’s a noticeable number. But I don’t hand that bill to my customer. If I need to cover it, I raise my price slightly. I cut a small expense somewhere else. I skip a soda, a night out, or a splurge. But I will never make my customer feel like they have to pay my bills just to hand me their money.

They’re paying for the value I’ve promised them, not for the mechanics of my back-office operations.

Because that’s what this is about – not math, but principle. Passing your business expenses directly to the customer says, “Your convenience is a problem for me.”

It says, “Your loyalty is worth less than my quarterly statement.” And it’s just bad business.

Passing your operating expenses directly to the customer is the equivalent of asking them to help pay your electric bill or kick in for your insurance premium. We’d all laugh at the idea of invoicing a client for a share of our office rent and supplies – yet some business owners don’t blink an eye at doing the exact same thing via a credit card surcharge.

The businesses that win – the ones that build loyalty, word of mouth, and repeat customers – make it easy to buy. They remove friction, not add it. They don’t make you feel ‘nickeled-and-dimed’ to death.

They understand that customer experience isn’t just a soft, fluffy concept; it’s a revenue driver. Every point of friction is a reason for someone to hesitate, reconsider, or walk away entirely.

So, if you’re a business owner and you’re adding a surcharge to credit card transactions, step back and ask yourself: what’s the real cost? Is it the 3% you’re paying to the processor, or the lifetime value of the customers you’re losing in the process?

Because once they’re gone, you don’t just lose that sale – you lose every sale they would have made, and every person they might have referred.

In the end, a credit card fee is a small price for the convenience, security, and higher spending it brings. Absorb it. Bake it into your prices. Protect the trust you’ve built with your customers.

And never forget – in business, loyalty is worth far more than 3%. Stop charging it!