Credit crunch time

It’s been illegal since January to charge customers a fee for paying by credit card. This makes it a good time to renegotiate your arrangement.

It’s not something that would ever happen in a health food store, but we’ve all seen the charges in small independents levied for paying by credit card.

That has been illegal since January 13, but figures show that at least one in ten small shops are still adding the charge, with one estimate of one in four in London.

The same research revealed that one in three customers had walked out of a shop rather than pay a charge and that minimum spends could put off potential customers.

Shops caught flouting the rules can expect to be visited by Trading Standards and ordered to repay any charges to the customer.