Swipe fees in effect, but not in Conn. or NY

Although Connecticut and New York are among the 10 states to prohibit surcharges on credit cards, retailers in most states are now allowed as of Jan. 27 to charge customers a checkout fee for using a credit card.

The fee is a part of a July settlement between Visa, MasterCard and nine banks, allowing store owners to pass along the cost of the transactions to customers. The fee can be up to 3 percent of the total purchase price and doesn’t apply to debit cards.

Many major retailers, including Wal-Mart, Target and Macy’s, have said the agreement is bad for both stores and consumers and isn’t a solution to Visa and MasterCard’s “unfair” fees.