Gas stations charging more to consumers who take on credit card debt

Many gas stations across the country are now charging more per gallon when a consumer takes on credit card debt to make a purchase, according to the New Bedford Standard-Times. Owners of these stations say they are doing so as a way to cut into the interchange fees they are charged by credit card lenders.

The report noted that this practice isn't illegal, but was rarely observed in the past because lenders had specific rules that barred companies from engaging in it. However, its prohibition was outlawed by the financial reform acts passed earlier this summer.

These interchange fees, charged for every transaction for which consumers took on credit card debt, have long been protested by small business owners who say they were too high. Many complained that these fees would cost them upwards of thousands of dollars a year.