I recall an advertisement from several years ago which had as its background music the Breakfast March of PeeWee Herman fame. In the commercial shoppers were systematically moving around making purchases with plastic and the whole process went swimmingly until someone wanted to pay cash. Then the whole system came tumbling to a halt.

The Consumerist reports that it has been ruled that retailers are now allowed to pass on the costs they pay to the credit companies to the consumer. So if Visa charges $1.00 for a swipe, then you may be charged a buck to pay using your Visa.

The thought is that this may be good for everybody, by making the credit companies compete with each other over the fee charged. In other words, if Discover decides it will only charge $0.50, then Visa and MasterCard may have to fall in line. For someone like me, who uses credit almost exclusively, this may force me to Visit the ATM on the way to the store, especially on small purchases. This will likely force more people to carry more cash.