The Electronic Payments Coalition, an industry group that represents Visa, MasterCard and the banks they work with, say the payments are necessary to maintain and secure credit networks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, local restaurants, stores and shops are grappling with complicated fee structures and expensive payments when customers choose to pay with plastic.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CreditDebitCard_SwipeFeesTariffs_SouthsideLocalSmallBusinesses_FlipsideRecordParlor_MilitaryDrive_02.jpeg\")
A sticker advertising the types of payments accepted is attached to the register at the store\u2019s checkout counter at Flip Side Records on the South Side. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
Making business decisions<\/p>\n
Restaurants have been particularly impacted by credit card fees. Blanca Aldaco owns Aldaco\u2019s, a Mexican restaurant in Stone Oak. <\/strong>She has yet to pass on the fees to her customers, but she\u2019s coming close.<\/p>\n She sends an average of $18,000 a month to credit card companies \u2014 more than $200,000 a year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m about to pass it on. To continue to maintain my pricing, I\u2019m about to add a credit card fee,\u201d she said. \u201cI guess it\u2019s a trend. Everyone\u2019s charging it.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s frustrating for her, she said. She wants to reinvest the money in her restaurant and in her workforce. Instead, she feels punished for doing well. When her sales go up, so do her payments.<\/p>\n Business owners, including Aldaco, say their margins are already tightening due to tariffs and inflation. Paying 3% of profits in fees eats into that. Aldaco makes about $0.08 for every dollar spent at her restaurant.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have $0.08 and $0.03 goes to the credit card company, you go \u2018Ahhh!\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Credit card companies argue that increased use of credit cards is driving fees, not the companies themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fee hasn\u2019t increased, the percentage has stayed the same, but what has increased is the revenue,\u201d said Nicklaus Simpson, managing director of public affairs at the Electronic Payments Coalition.<\/p>\n Simpson said major credit card companies Visa and MasterCard run the networks that move credit between banks, businesses and customers. They use the fees to invest in fraud protection from hackers and scams. Visa, for example, has invested $12 billion in fraud protection in the last five years, Simpson said.<\/p>\n Aaron Selinkoff owns Specht\u2019s Texas, a restaurant located between San Antonio and Bulverde that has been serving American comfort food since 1890. He said credit card usage has gone up in the last five years. Now, it\u2019s around 90% of Selinkoff\u2019s business.<\/p>\n Selinkoff and Aldaco noted that rewards or premium credit cards are being used more often and have higher fees.<\/p>\n \u201cThose rewards you get are awesome,\u201d Selinkoff said. \u201cBut someone has to pay for them and it\u2019s typically not the credit card company.\u201d<\/p>\n Selinkoff also made the decision to add a fee for credit card usage, he said. Businesses are allowed to pass on their costs through their own small, limited fee. Customers are more and more understanding of that additional charge, Selinkoff said, but there are other ways the credit card fees add up.<\/p>\n He noted that he collects tips and taxes from customers. If a customer pays with card, he said, he\u2019s charged credit card fees on transactions which he is not a part of.<\/p>\n A 20-year lawsuit<\/p>\n In 2005, a group of businesses launched a class action lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard.<\/p>\n In November, the plaintiffs and the credit card companies proposed a settlement agreement.<\/p>\n The proposal allows businesses to reject or charge their own fees on a credit card by credit card basis. It also allows businesses to negotiate in buying groups, where they can come together to lobby for particular fee rates.<\/p>\n Visa and MasterCard would reduce the fees banks can charge on credit cards for five years and cap growth of those fees for a further eight years.<\/p>\n Simpson said the settlement checks the plaintiffs\u2019 boxes and gives businesses more flexibility.<\/p>\n Some business associations don\u2019t think the settlement goes far enough, though. Kelsey Erickson Streufert is the public affairs officer for the Texas Restaurant Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a good offer, not a good deal for a vast majority of businesses and really consumers,\u201d Streufert said.<\/p>\n The TRA estimates the fees cost American households roughly $1,800 a year and are higher than in other places, like in Europe and Canada, where credit card fees are more tightly regulated.<\/p>\n Streufert also noted that the settlement only applied to the fees banks charge on credit cards, also known as interchange fees, not to the card companies themselves. The settlement would also not apply to other credit card companies, like American Express and Discover, though Visa and MasterCard make up over 80% of the credit card market.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CreditDebitCard_SwipeFeesTariffs_SouthsideLocalSmallBusinesses_BettysFlowerShop_MilitaryDrive_08_12..jpeg\")
A sign notifying customers of a 3.99% fee for all credit card transactions is taped to the counter at Betty\u2019s Flower Shop. Owner Betty Dovalina says the extra fees for those customers paying with credit cards at her store began earlier this year. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CreditDebitCard_SwipeFees_SouthsideLocalSmallBusinesses_BBSmokehouseBarbequeBBQ_MilitaryDrive_01_12..jpeg\")
A customer uses tap to pay with a card when paying for their meal at B&B Smokehouse on Tuesday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n