Visa and Mastercard got hammered in a lawsuit with retailers, (to the tune of $6 billion) and now retailers will be allowed to charge customers a fee to use their credit cards, (and one assumes MC and Visa debit cards, as well). Merchant agreements in the past forbade surcharges, so this will be a game changer. While it may well foster a bit of competition between the companies, there are going to be a lot of pissed off people out there who are going to object to the added fee.
The Consumerist » Visa, MasterCard Agree To Let Merchants Add Surcharges To Credit Card Purchases
The Consumerist » Visa, MasterCard Agree To Let Merchants Add Surcharges To Credit Card Purchases