By Jasmine Bailey

A new law taking effect Sunday could require you to pay an extra fee whenever you use your credit card. KSWB has the details.

“The new law comes after a settlement between retailers， Visa， MasterCard， and nine major banks. Right now stores pay credit card companies up to 3% each time they swipe your card.”

So this new law allows but does not require， stores to pass that cost onto the you—the customer. Its being called a “check-out fee” and could 1）amount to up to 4% of your purchase. But， not everyone will have to worry about the fee.

星期天（2013年1月）开始生效的一项新法律可能要求你在刷信用卡时，支付额外的费用。下面是KSWB（译者注：位于加州圣迭戈的福克斯电视台下属电视台）电视台带来的详细报道。

“新法规的出台是基于零售商与维萨信用卡、万事达信用卡，以及九家主要银行达成的一项协议。现在，你每刷一次信用卡，商家就要给信用卡公司最高可达3%的额外费用。”

因此，这项新法规允许，但不强求，商家把那部分费用转嫁到你——也就是消费者的身上。这叫“刷卡手续费”，最高能达到你消费金额的4%。但是，并不是所有人都得担心这项收费。

Ten states prohibit credit card surcharges—California， Colorado， Connecticut， Florida， Kansas， Maine， Massachusetts， New York， Oklahoma， and Texas.

You also dont need to worry if youre paying by debit card， American Express， or Discover card.

The president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts told the Boston Herald—even if you dont find yourself excluded from the list of those who wont see the fee， not every store will be 2）implementing it.

“He doesnt expect stores or restaurants to start surcharging...for a fear of alienating price-sensitive customers. Rather， he expects service providers with‘captive customers—hospitals， doctors offices and airlines—to 3）impose the fees.”

But if you do find yourself having to pay an extra fee， the director of consumer education at credit.com gave ABC News some advice. She said：

“‘Always have a backup method of payment…Have a debit card， or slip extra $20 in your wallet.You can also let the merchant know you object to the new charge. ‘If enough consumers complain， a merchant will fear losing business and wont choose to pass the charge along.”

By law， merchants intending to pass the cost along will have to post notices at check out informing consumers of the extra charge. Online merchants will have to post a similar notice to their home page.

有十个州禁止信用卡附加费——包括加利福尼亚州、科罗拉多州、康涅狄格州、佛罗里达州、堪萨斯州、缅因州、马萨诸塞州、纽约州、俄克拉何马州，以及德克萨斯州。

如果你使用借记卡、运通卡和发现卡来付款，你也不必担心额外费用。

马萨诸塞州的零售商协会主席告诉《波士顿先驱报》：即使你不在免交附加费之列，也并不是每个商家都会执行这项法令。

“他预料商店或是饭店不会开始实施附加收费，因为担心这样会赶走那些对价格敏感的客人。他估计那些拥有‘赶不走的客源的服务供应商——像是医院、诊所和航空公司——会收取这样的费用。”

那如果你发现自己不得不支付额外费用，credit.com网站的消费者教育主管向ABC新闻的观众支招。她说：

“‘总是有两手准备……带一张借记卡，或是塞一张20元在钱包里。你也可以让店主知道你不愿意支付额外的费用。‘如果有足够多的顾客抱怨，那么店主就会因害怕流失客源而不会选择转嫁费用。”

按照法律规定，如果店主要转嫁费用，必须在收银台张贴出公示，告诉顾客此事。网上店铺也必须在他们的首页贴出相关公示。