Credit card surcharges rise as small businesses adapt

"We paid $40,000 in credit card fees in 2025," Lavery said. "Our operating margins were getting tighter, so the choices were to raise prices across the board or add the surcharge. We didn't think it was fair for customers who pay with cash to raise prices, so we implemented the surcharge."

Businesses are always looking at ways to protect their bottom line, and lately that includes how customers pay for their items or services.

Many, like Lavery Brewing Co., have added credit card surcharges while a few have stopped accepting credit cards altogether. Others have gone a different route and no longer accept cash.

The percentage of businesses that add a surcharge for credit card purchases has increased to 35%, according to the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Survey. The percentage of businesses that accept credit cards has risen to 96%.

Going cashless saves money because employees don't have to spend time counting and depositing up to $50,000 after a hockey game or concert, said Gus Pine, Erie Events executive director. But the main reason for the change was to serve more concession stand customers.

"The main problem we saw when I first came here was speed of service, handling up to 5,000 customers at one time at our concession stands," Pine said. "It was always the No. 1 concern people cited in our annual fan survey."

The company no longer needs a second worker at each register to handle cash and the buying process is more streamlined, Pine said.

"You can see the difference if you walk onto the concourse between periods of an Erie Otters game," Pine said. "The waiting times for concessions are much less."

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Seamstress has never accepted credit cards

Natalya Voyetz doesn't have to worry about long lines of customers. The owner of Natalya's Sewing Center usually sees her customers one at a time.

They also remember to bring cash. Voyetz hasn't accepted credit cards since she opened the business in 2014.

"I figured that I would have to pay the credit card companies a fee, so I didn't accept them," Voyetz said. "My customers are mostly regulars and they know that I don't take credit cards."

For new customers, Voyetz has two signs taped to her front counter. One has the international "no" symbol placed over pictures of various credit card companies, while the other tells people that she doesn't accept credit cards.