WACO, Texas (KXXV) — More than a third of businesses nationwide now add a surcharge for credit card purchases, according to the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Survey.
Kyle Citrano, the owner of George's Restaurant and Jorge's Cantina locations in Waco, said the fees have become one of his largest operating expenses.
"This is like a top 3 level expense. You got your food, your labor, and then your 3rd biggest expense is credit card processing fees, there's something wrong with that," Citrano said.
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Citrano said the financial impact across his three restaurants is significant.
"Between all 3 of our restaurants it's roughly $50,000 a month. It's a very high number…. We're not the only ones that are affected by this, every single restaurant, every single business that has credit card transactions, we're all going through the same thing," Citrano said.
As processing fees have risen, Citrano said he made the difficult decision to impose a surcharge at Jorge's Cantina, while working to keep George's Restaurant surcharge-free.
"Making sure that customers understand that we're not just putting this fee on top of things to make money, that money is money that can go to our employees, hire managers, that money right now is just going to credit card companies as a profit," Citrano said.
Waco resident Jeremy Green, a customer at George's who has lived in the city for 13 years, said he and his wife have noticed the shift.
"We've seen it more and more where it's actually spelled out or we're asked- are you paying with cash or debit? And so we've recently noticed it on our receipts," Green said.
Citrano said he feels for customers caught in the middle.
"At the end of the day this is a terrible thing for the customer. It's sad that everybody is having to do this when there's one person who's winning out of all of this and it's credit card companies," Citrano said.
As a board member for the Texas Restaurant Association, Citrano said the group is working to educate state lawmakers about the burden these fees place on small businesses.
Citrano said he understands cash or debit is not always an option for everyone, and his goal is to keep George's surcharge-free for as long as possible.
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