Retailers Win Battle To Add Credit Card Charge

New York, NY, July 16, 2012 -- Retailers will soon be able to impose a surcharge on credit card transactions due to a settlement reached with Visa and MasterCard.

Those companies and a group of other large financial firms agreed Friday to forfeit a total of $7.25 billion to settle an anti-trust case brought by retailers.

The defendants in the case, which also include large banks, will offer cash payments worth $6.05 billion in total.

Visa and MasterCard have until now banned stores from charging customers who use credit cards more.

The surcharges will likely go into effect in 2013.