Sick of credit card swipe fees? Blame businesses, not the banks.

As a consumer, I have finally hit the wall when it comes to “swipe fees” on credit cards. That happened last month when my dentist — my dentist! — announced he was tacking on a 3.5 percent surcharge if a credit card was used.

Why is my dentist doing this? Why am I being warned at the diner in New Jersey that I’m penalized if I choose not to pay cash? Why do I, like so many other consumers, grumble when I see a “credit card processing” surcharge automatically added to my purchase at a Philadelphia coffee shop? Enough is enough, right?

And yet, my irritation is not with the banks who are charging these fees. It’s with my dentist, and other small business owners, who are now charging me extra.  

It’s easy for small businesses to complain about swipe fees because they have such a receptive audience. It’s David versus Goliath, big vs. small, good versus evil. And because it is such an obvious way to get the populist vote, a number of politicians are jumping on the anti-swipe-fee bandwagon, passing legislation across the country to curtail the practice, including in Illinois, Colorado, Maine, Delaware, Arizona and Pennsylvania. 

Supporters of these measures argue that swipe fees impact small businesses disproportionately. They say that bigger companies are in a position to negotiate better deals, and that the fees are becoming a significant cost for Main Street retailers, restaurateurs and (apparently) dentists.........

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