June 1, 2026, 5:00 AM EDTThis article is part of “Unaffordable America,” a series examining rising economic inequality in the U.S. and the policies that drive it.RUCKERSVILLE, Va. — At the Tiger Fuel gas station and convenience store near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the managers expect to pay more in fees to credit card companies this year than they will on rent — one more expense weighing on the company and its customers amid the surging price of gas.Those credit card fees — which can be as high as 5% for some premium cards offering luxury perks and hefty rewards — have been contributing to higher prices and limiting how much the store can spend on other areas, like wages, said Maurice Lamarche, vice president of retail operations for Tiger Fuel Co.“It’s tougher for us to stay afloat, tougher for us to make money at our stores,” Lamarche said. “It makes it harder for us to keep our prices low.”Maurice Lamarche, vice president of retail operations at Tiger Fuel Co., said credit card fees are the biggest expense in the Ruckersville, Va., store.Kirsten Luce for NBC NewsThe total credit and debit card fees paid by merchants to card processors, led by Visa and Mastercard, have increased 70% since 2019 to $198 billion in 2025, according to data from the Nilson Report. The rise has been fueled by an overall increase in consumer spending, a shrinking number of people using cash and an uptick in fees charged by credit card companies that largely go toward funding rewards programs.The National Retail Federation, an industry organization pushing for legislation to reduce swipe fees, estimates those fees add more than $1,200 a year in higher prices for the average household.The pain from those costs isn’t being felt equally. For customers paying with credit cards that offer rewards, those higher prices are offset by the perks they get from their card, like cash back, points that can be redeemed for flights or access to airline lounges.But for those paying with cash or a debit or a credit card that doesn’t come with any perks, there is no reprieve: They are bearing the brunt of higher prices — without receiving any benefits.This amounts to a wealth transfer of about $30 billion a year from people who pay with cash and debit cards to people who pay with credit cards, a Harvard Business School study estimated this year. That’s equivalent to raising the average sales tax rate by around 16% for people who pay in cash.Leila Register / NBC News; Illustrations by Ben Denzer“From the credit card user’s perspective, they have to pay a higher price, but they’re going to get most of that higher fee the merchant pays back in the form of rewards, so in some cases they come out ahead,” said Mark Egan, an author of the study and a professor at Harvard Business School. “If I pay with cash, I pay a higher price, but I don’t get any rewards, so I’m going to be hurt by that.”This disproportionately hurts lower- and middle-income Americans, since those groups are more likely to use cash, according to data from the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, premium credit cards that offer luxury perks are more likely to be used by higher-income consumers because they come with expensive annual fees and minimum credit score requirements.The disparity in who pays the price for credit card rewards comes as America faces a growing economic divide. The wealth gap between rich and poor in America is the widest it’s been in at least a generation — and growing. While the wealthiest Americans have seen their wealth grow from record stock market highs and rising real estate values, the average American has seen their earnings decline, job prospects weaken and costs continue to rise.The Electronic Payments Coalition, an industry group representing credit card companies, said that the Harvard analysis “rests on a set of faulty assumptions that bias these estimates upwards.” The group said the study doesn’t account for the expenses to retailers of using cash, including the cost of cash pickups and bank charges, or the benefits of credit cards, such as protections against fraud and faster transaction times.“Cash isn’t free for small businesses. That is why businesses are going cashless — not the opposite,” the Electronic Payments Coalition said in a statement.Cody Newman used cash to buy a snack and Gatorade at Tiger Fuel in Ruckersville on a recent Tuesday morning. He said he avoids using a credit card because he worries about getting hit with interest payments if he’s unable to pay off his balance.Cody Newman paid with cash at Tiger Fuel, which helps him stay within his budget.Kirsten Luce for NBC News“I just try to keep things as simple as possible. I guess it might not be the best thing to do because I know you do get rewards with some credit cards,” said Newman, who works at a nearby Lowe’s. As far as the impact on prices, “it’s the world we live in,” Newman said. “I feel like I’ve been dealing with that my whole life. I’m a millennial, so I feel like prices continue to go up for any reason.”A few customers behind him was Connie Colvin, who paid in cash for her lunch of chicken fingers, green beans and a roll from the convenience store’s restaurant. Colvin said she has a credit card, but she only uses it for emergencies or if she’s traveling. For daily purchases, she said it’s easier to keep track of her spending with cash.“Anything that makes my cost go up, it’s not fair,” said Colvin, who is retired and lives a few miles away. “But I mean, I understand the convenience it is for other people.”The Tiger Fuel gas station and market in Ruckersville has seen the amount it pays in credit card fees rise with the price of gas.Kirsten Luce for NBC NewsThe divide between who uses cash versus credit cards in America is stark. Households earning less than $25,000 a year used cash for about a quarter of their purchases, while those with a household income of more than $150,000 used cash 9% of the time, a 2024 Federal Reserve survey found. Cash payers are also more likely to be older, with those 55 and up using cash 19% of the time, compared with 10% of those ages 25 to 54.Meanwhile, the use of premium cards has been on the rise, accounting for 60% of credit card volume in 2022 compared with just 15% in 2006, according to the Harvard study. Those cards carry the highest fees for merchants and contribute more to rising prices, the study’s authors argue, with the average swipe fee on premium cards at 2.1%, compared with 1.7% for basic credit cards and less than 1% for debit cards, some of which have their fees capped under federal law.“People have switched to more expensive, fancier credit cards, which is good for consumers in that they are going to benefit from those rewards,” Egan said. “But that has made it more costly to use a debit card or cash for others.”Jayne Blair uses a debit card at Tiger Fuel. She said it's easier to track her spending with a debit card than a credit card, even though she doesn't get rewards. Kirsten Luce for NBC NewsOverall, the researchers estimated that premium credit card users received 43% of credit card rewards while paying just 30% of the higher prices resulting from higher credit card swipe fees, while cash users, who get no rewards, paid for 10% of the higher prices from swipe fees.The analysis accounts for the fact that people paying in cash often shop at different stores from those paying with credit cards. The study also factors in varying fees paid by different types of retailers, with major chains often able to negotiate lower fees with the credit card companies.While the premium cards with higher annual fees may cater more toward wealthier consumers, the Electronic Payments Coalition said that the number of lower- and middle-income consumers with credit cards that offers rewards has been rising.“Millions of low-and moderate-income families rely on cashback, travel, and rewards programs to help offset the rising cost of groceries, gas, and everyday expenses,” the coalition said. The group has also argued that lower swipe fees wouldn’t necessarily translate into lower prices, pointing to data that indicated prices didn’t drop significantly following a cap on some debit card fees in 2011.A group of retailers has been battling Visa and Mastercard for years over the fees they charge. Lawmakers at the state and federal levels have proposed legislation to cap those fees. A growing number of companies have also responded by offering cash discounts or adding surcharges for customers using a credit card.​​“It’s a pain point for us as retailers and it’s a pain point for our customers,” said Lamarche of Tiger Fuel, which operates 10 gas stations and convenience stores in Virginia.Calvin Buergey uses a $100 bill for his purchase at Tiger Fuel. He said he keeps most of his income in cash.Kirsten Luce for NBC NewsAt the Ruckersville store, which sits between the more affluent neighborhoods near Charlottesville and the rural areas backed against the Blue Ridge Mountains, there was a wide mix of cash, debit and credit card users. One man came in with a bag of coins that the cashier patiently counted out. A few minutes earlier, another man used his Alaska Airlines-branded credit card to rack up a few miles he hoped to use for future travel.Calvin Buergey pulled out a $100 bill to buy a bottle of Coke. He said he keeps most of his income from doing tree removal in cash to avoid costs that come with using credit or debit cards, like ATM or overdraft fees.“I don’t think you should be charged for using your own money,” Buergey said. “We shouldn’t have to pay to spend our money or have anyone dictate how we use it.”An employee helps count change from a customer at Tiger Fuel.Kirsten Luce for NBC News