For years small businesses have been forced to pay fees to credit card companies but were not allowed to recoup any of those costs by charging customers a premium for using plastic. The costs may seem small but as the volume picks up they can be quite substantial. However, all of this might finally be changing reports Daily Finance. “A lengthy legal battle between a group of retailers and the world's two largest credit card networks, Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA), may be nearing an end. The merchants have long sought the right to charge customers more for paying with a credit card, which would help them defray the cost of accepting plastic. (Merchants have to pay each time a customer swipes his or her card at their business.) But the card companies have banned this practice in the standard agreements businesses must sign in order to accept credit and debit cards.

Now, according to the Journal, "That ban is expected to be eliminated or altered," as a part of a potential settlement that seems to be in reach, ahead of a September trial date. The litigation includes more than 50 lawsuits brought since 2005, by companies including Payless ShoeSource (PSS) and Safeway (SWY), which were recently consolidated in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York…”