As of next year, retailers will be banned from charging customers extra for paying by credit or debit card as it is to be outlawed. The ban is set to come into effect from January 2018 when all businesses will officially be banned from adding a surcharge to transactions. 

The move was decided after a directive from the EU declaring the end to surcharges on Visa and Mastercard, but the UK has taken it a step further and included American Express and PayPal. 

It’s been common practice for retailers to add surcharges to many purchases to offset the cost from the banks. On average banks charge large businesses between 10p and 20p for debit card transactions and 0.6% for credit card. 

The total value of surcharges in 2010 stands at £473 million according to the treasury. It’s very likely that retailers will increase prices in order to cover the cost they no longer can with surcharges.