Using a credit card instead of cash could cost you - 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio -

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio - If you primarily use a credit card or debit card instead of cash, it could cost you.

That's because major credit card companies have agreed to a settlement in a price fixing case that would pay retailers $7-billion. The agreement includes giving businesses the right to pass credit card processing fees on to the consumer.

At Quality Petmart in Austintown, owner Bill Vallas estimates that 70% of his customers use credit cards or debit cards. So having a credit card processing machine is critical to his business.

But that plastic that is so convenient for customers comes at a major cost to business owners. That's because retailers have to pay the credit card companies processing fees for every transaction.

"One thousand six hundred dollars for one month. It's actually our third largest expense next to rent and payroll," Vallas says.

For Vallas, that amounts to more than $19,000 a year. The Austintown businessman says the fees are extremely expensive, but he doesn't know about passing fees on to the consumers.

John Colla of Colla's Market in Austintown says he also doesn't know about passing a surcharge on to consumers, but he admits credit card fees hurt his bottom line.

"It eats in to your profits. At the end of the month, you figure if you pay $500, and I'm a little business, I can hire another part-time person to work if I didn't have to pay the fees," Colla says.

In fact, Colla, like a number of other retailers, has a $5 minimum purchase for anyone using a credit card. That's his way of off-setting an expense that's necessary to make things convenient for his customers, many who never carry cash.

Colla says, "I have people come in [and] they want to buy a Vindicator for 50-cents (with a credit card), and I would rather not sell the paper. Because I'm only making a nickel."