This is one of my pet peeves. When I’m paying for something — a meal, say — and the merchant’s Interac (kind of like a check card) terminal advises me there will be an additional 35¢ fee added to the transaction. Even if the bill is only $20 plus tip, this is a bit of an insult, charging me extra for my convenience of not having to handle cash — never mind that it offers the merchant this very same convenience. Yes, I know there’s an extra cost to the merchant to have the service… but I also happen to know it’s about 9¢ per transaction. If the margin on the meal can’t absorb that, they need to close up shop and go home. Most times, I’m tempted to pull out a credit card instead, and make the merchant pay 2% or more for the same convenience.

I was annoyed by the supermarket that started charging 3¢ per plastic grocery bag 15 or 20 years ago, and you had to bag your own groceries. Now it’s being done in the name of environmentalism at 3-5¢ per bag, but I don’t mind so much. Now the goal is to the benefit of the environment, which is far more noble than a microtax to the merchant (and besides, reusable bags are “hip” now).

The fact remains, I might be happy about the meal or the product and the price, why stop to piss me off at the last crucial moment, when I’m actually paying for it? Please, if you have to collect something for these little transaction fees, average them out and build them into the pricing structure, the same as you must already do for credit card fees. But please, don’t charge me extra for the privilege of putting cash directly into your bank account.

• Seth Godin: Lying to your customers
• Lying to Your Customers
• Remember Your Existing Customers