Survey Finds That 82% of Consumers Have Paid Fees for Using Credit Cards, But They Don’t Like It

Many shoppers know the experience of waiting in a store’s slow-moving checkout line. Maybe at times you’ve even detected the source of the problem — a customer who’s fumbling through their purse or backpack for loose change to pay for their items. 

You may have wondered why the customer didn’t just use their credit card for the payment and allowed the other shoppers in line to get on with their day. But perhaps that customer — from their vantage point near the register — made the decision to reach for cash when they noticed that the merchant imposed an extra fee when customers paid with credit cards.

Surcharges on credit card transactions aren’t an uncommon practice in 2025. A new survey from WalletHub reveals that more than 4 out of every 5 respondents say they have had to pay an additional fee when completing a transaction with a credit card.

Credit cards can bring an element of convenience to purchases. But when that convenience comes with a price tag, it can leave a bad taste in consumers’ mouths. The survey indicated that 87% of respondents “think they are being nickel-and-dimed when they are asked to pay an extra fee for credit card payment processing.”

Some merchants charge fees when customers pay with credit cards to cover the costs they pay for processing payments made with credit and debit cards. Those charges can vary by type of transaction, but they typically amount to a few percentage points of a transaction’s total cost.

But merchants may not disclose the additional fees they impose on credit card purchases in a clear manner. The WalletHub report said that 58% of survey respondents believe that merchants are not transparent about the fees they charge for credit card transactions.

“From what I’ve encountered a merchant may not even have a proper sign posted that they impose a surcharge on credit cards,” Ben Danner, Senior Analyst of Credit and Commercial at Javelin Strategy & Research, told PaymentsJournal.

“Or the sign is posted in a place far away from the point of sale,” Danner added. “It’s fairly obvious that when a consumer reaches the point of sale, they are not going to want to pay an extra fee just for using a card product.”

But for shoppers who aren’t armed with other payment devices or cash, their only options when encountering a merchant-imposed credit card fee may be to pay the charge or abandon their purchase.

Credit cards aren’t a new invention, in fact, they celebrate their 75th anniversary in 2025. The first modern-day credit card was the Diners Club card, which was introduced in 1950. But the practice of charging customers additional fees for completing transactions with credit cards is relatively new.

Attaching additional fees to credit card purchases was generally illegal prior to 2013. Now, credit card surcharges are legal in all but a handful of states. Small businesses that impose credit card fees may shudder at the thought of paying for those costs out of their own pockets, particularly as the U.S. economy teeters on the brink of a recession. 

Though cost-saving measures can keep businesses afloat in tough economic times, merchants that pass relatively small expenses along to customers are being penny-wise and pound-foolish. The survey revealed that 68% of respondents said they wouldn’t use their credit cards when merchants charged them an additional fee. 

More than two-thirds of survey respondents said they wouldn’t pay with their credit card if they incurred a fee for it.

Keeping your credit card in your pocket and reaching for cash or another payment instrument may be just the consumer reaction some merchants seek when they impose a credit card surcharge. But not all consumers are prepared to pay with cash or another payment tool.

Even if a shopper does have their debit card on hand, they may not have the funds in their account to cover that specific purchase. A report from the Bank of America Institute indicates that, in 2024, approximately 1 out of every 4 households was living paycheck to paycheck.

Without healthy bank account balances, those living paycheck to paycheck may rely on credit solutions, namely credit cards, to fund their lifestyles. And consumers who are in a better financial condition may still prefer the convenience and benefits of paying for purchases with their credit cards.

Merchants may not enjoy shouldering the costs of processing credit cards payments. But savvy shoppers can voice their opinion of credit card surcharges by choosing to avoid frequenting businesses that pass payment processing costs on to their customers. And that’s something that merchants would likely enjoy even less.