Although this is not a hot deal, this settlement could affect a lot of the hot deals going forward that benefit from credit card rewards. I think the banks should absorb a lot of these fees and collect it from their exorbitant credit card interest charges. Like if you use a chase freedom card to purchase groceries during their rotating (5%) categories will the store charge you a 3% surcharge for using this card vs a chase freedom unlimited card that charges 1.5% for the same purchase. How would each merchant know which card has which fees at a given time? Banks have to absorb the sign up bonuses, so I would think they could absorb the processing fee differentials as well. We shall see.
Visa, Mastercard reach $30 billion swipe-fee deal with US retailers