Merchants are charged several expenses for accepting credit cards. The merchant is usually charged a commission of around 1 to 4 percent of the value of each transaction paid for by credit card. Most retailers have not started utilizing credit card surcharges, be that as it may, for fear of losing customers. The merchant may also pay a variable charge, called a merchant discount rate, for each transaction. This practice was denied by most credit card contracts in the United States until 2013, when a major settlement among merchants and credit card companies allowed merchants to demand surcharges. Merchants with low average transaction costs or high average transaction costs are progressively averse to accepting credit cards.
In a few instances of low-value transactions, utilization of credit cards will significantly lessen the net revenue or cause the merchant to lose cash on the transaction. Merchants in the United States have been battling what they consider to be unfairly high expenses charged with credit card companies in a progression of lawsuits that started in 2005. Now and again merchants may charge clients a "credit card supplement" either a settled amount or a percentage, for payment by credit card.