‘Watch your receipts’ Business owners charging more for customers who pay with card as fees increase

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. — Take a look at your receipts before you just automatically put down your credit card. It seems more businesses are charging you more to pay with a card, and they’re not hiding it.

“You gotta watch your receipts, and it’s everywhere,” said A Slice of New York Owner Sean Jefairjian.

Sean Jefairjian owns A Slice of New York in Export.

“In 2020, we were probably 50 percent cash,” said Jefairjian. “Today, we’re probably under 20 percent cash.”

Each time he swipes a credit card, he pays.

“I’m paying 2.6 percent for my credit card fee plus they [Point-of-Sale Company] take 10 cents of every transaction,” said Jefairjian.

But he says he’ll always build that “swipe fee” that credit card and point of sale companies charge into his prices.

“So, it’s just one of those things that we know is an expense as a business that we’re going to build into our cost structure,” said Jefairjian.

According to Merchants Payments Coalition, in 2023, families paid an average of $1,100 in swipe fees. Unlike Jefairjian, more business owners are making it known they’re charging you more if you pay by card like Mediterra and The Parlor in Lawrenceville.

“I appreciate they’re being transparent with it and not trying to hide it as something that’s built into the price that you could avoid if you just want to use cash so that’s what I did,” said Victoria Summerfield.

Jefairjian says some point-of-sale companies are pushing businesses to do it this way.

“Let’s say you have 10,000 stores doing the same thing,” said Jefairjian. “Now their numbers are boosted. The stores’ numbers are boosted. And it really makes no sense. But at the end of the day, it’s that POS company that’s getting rich and boosting their numbers. The sad thing is it is legal to do, it’s just dirty.”

“Obviously, I like to spend less money rather than more,” said Summerfield. “So, I try to avoid extra fees if I can so that’s what I did.”

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