Retailers Can Begin Passing Credit Card Fees on to Consumers From Sunday

Deciding between paper or plastic coud become a financial decision from Sunday - that is when it comes to paying for your purchases. You may want to think twice before you pull out your credit card.

Time Magazine reports that a controversial federal court ruling last year gave retailers the go-ahead to tack bank surcharges for credit card purchases onto customer bills. Jan. 27, 2013 was the date set for these new regulations to go into effect. Bank fees between 2 and 4 percent of a credit card purchase had traditionally been covered by retailers making the sales, but smaller businesses without the backing of major corporations usually felt the brunt of these charges. 

Ten states prohibit passing fees on to credit card users - these are New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Texas. Georgia is not one of them.

Customers can avoid the charges by paying with debit cards or prepaid cards. According to a Time Magazine report on the issue, stores must warn customers with a sign on the door before charging them the fees, and not all retailers will pass on the fees for fear of alienating customers.