The interchange fee is a percentage of each transaction that Visa and MasterCard banks collect from restaurateurs and other merchants every time a consumer uses a credit or debit card to pay for a purchase. The fee varies with the type of card, size of merchant and other factors. Generally, the fees average close to 2 percent for credit card and debit transactions and can be even higher for rewards or corporate credit cards.
Restaurants have no control over these fees which can be raised at any time by the credit card companies, and because refusing to accept credit and debit cards in this plastic-driven society is just not a realistic option, restaurants are forced to accept whatever terms or rates they dictate – even when these are harmful to the restaurant’s viability and its guests. In most instances interchange “swipe” fees represent one of the highest expenses a business faces – second only to labor and rent. And yet, these swipe fees are one of the only costs of doing business restaurateurs cannot negotiate....
