by Alison Storm | 05/6/10

Have you ever run into a gas station or a restaurant to buy a bottle of water or some other small purchase, only to discover the store's policy forces you to spend a minimum of $5 or $20 when using a credit card? In fact, Visa and MasterCard both have policies in place that prohibit merchants from requiring a minimum purchase. However, some states are considering laws that would allow businesses to do this. Businesses in Vermont say they're losing money on small purchases when credit cards are used because credit card companies charge such high fees.

WCAX in Vermont interviewed Gilles Moreau, owner of M&M Beverage Center in Barre who says he gets charged $.17 every time a debit card is swiped and $.10 for credit card swipes. On top of that he is charged an .08 percent fee on the total charge which cuts into his already small profit on things like cups of coffee. "You're only making about 20 cents, 25 cents on a credit card on a cost of a cup of coffee so basically you've just thrown all your profit out the window on the swipe of that credit card," Moreau told WCAX. He and other owners worked with the Vermont Retailers Association and the Vermont Grocers Association to lobby lawmakers on behalf of a bill that would allow minimum purchases.

Under the law stores could also set maximum purchases and give incentives for people to use cash. "I think everyone now has finally realized that the credit card industry, how imposing it is not only on the consumers but also the merchants," says Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor County, in a WCAX report. So far the bill has passed unanimously in both the state House and the Senate. It's not up to the governor as to whether he will sign the bill into law. And according to WCAX it's a decision he has yet to make.