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I'm actually OK with businesses deciding to not take a certain kind of credit card or them going cash only. Fine, go ahead and lose me as a customer. Just don't nickel and dime me because you're too cheap and stubborn to accept the tiny gross margin difference between one card and an another.

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Hidden fees remove any consumer-side pressure on credit cards to lower their costs.

It also creates perverse incentives for cards to pass part of the merchant fees back to the consumer as rewards or even cash. Here in the US, 2-3% cash back is typical, driving consumers to prefer credit over other payment methods.

Meanwhile, merchants are forced to bake the fees into the retail price, causing the paradox that those who pay upfront end up spending more for the same goods.

Think of it as a discount in the other direction.

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