Avoiding fees when holiday shopping

Soon you’ll be buying for the holidays.

Perhaps you’ve been wanting to shop local. By now, you might know businesses can charge a small additional percentage if you use a credit card.

Merchants can place a surcharge up to 4%. It helps them recoup service costs, but here’s the key: Mastercard says they must clearly disclose it when you make a purchase.

Teri Hodgett with Sunrise Bank says those branded cards offer you protection against charges that shouldn’t be on there.

For instance, if you use a debit card or prepaid Mastercard, those surcharges can’t be used. If that does happen, here’s what you can do.

“We would say file...