Card Fee Check: see if your card fee setup matches the published rules.

Credit card surcharges in the US: the rules for Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover and each state (2026)

The short answer: what US merchants may and may not charge

Rules for card fees come from two places. The card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) set rules in their agreements with your payment processor, and each state sets its own law. You have to satisfy both. A fee can pass the network rules and still be illegal in your state, or the other way around.

As of October 27, 2026, these points hold across the published network rules we read: a surcharge may only be added to credit card payments, never to debit or prepaid cards. Visa caps a credit surcharge at the lower of your cost of acceptance or 3 percent. Mastercard's published brand-level cap is the lower of your average effective rate for Mastercard credit or 4 percent. You need to give notice 30 days before you start. And you must tell customers at the entrance, at the point of sale and on the receipt.

State law then adds a second layer. Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts are listed by Visa as states that prohibit surcharging, and Puerto Rico is on the same list. Colorado and Oklahoma allow it with a cap of 2 percent or your actual cost. New York allows it only if you post the full card price in dollars and cents. Several other states add notice or cost rules. Details and sources are below.

A cash discount is a different tool. Offering a lower price for cash or debit is allowed under federal law and in every state we checked, as long as it is offered to everyone and shown clearly. It is the reason many owners in banned states use a discount instead of a surcharge.

Everything on this page is a summary of published sources, not legal advice. Check with your payment processor before changing fees.

Four different things: surcharge, convenience fee, cash discount, dual pricing

Owners often say 'card fee' for all of these, but networks and states treat them separately. Mixing them up is the most common source of trouble.

A surcharge is an extra amount added to a credit card payment on top of the posted price, usually a percentage. It is the item the network rules and most state laws address directly.

A convenience fee is a fee for a payment channel, such as paying online when the usual way is in person. Networks have separate and narrower rules for convenience fees. We did not find a full set of those rules on the public network pages we read, so the Card Fee Check flags a convenience fee for review with your processor rather than approving it. Calling a percentage fee a 'convenience fee' to avoid surcharge rules does not change how it is treated.

A cash discount is a reduction from your regular price for paying with cash or another non-credit method. American Express's published merchant guide allows discounts for cash if they are disclosed clearly, offered to all customers and not based on the card issuer. Federal law has protected cash discounts for decades, and the NCSL state list shows no state that bars a cash discount offered to all customers.

Dual pricing shows two prices for the same item, a card price and a cash price. Visa's rules, as summarised by law firm Arnall Golden Gregory, require that the credit card price be displayed alone or side by side with the cash price. In New York, posting the full card price in dollars and cents is the legal requirement itself.

Visa: the 3 percent cap, the notice and the receipt

Visa's published merchant surcharging requirements for the US say the surcharge cannot exceed your cost of acceptance for the credit card, and if that cost is above 3 percent, the surcharge cannot exceed 3 percent. Visa lowered its cap from 4 percent to 3 percent effective April 15, 2023, as reported by Payments Dive and described by law firm Arnall Golden Gregory. If your Visa cost is 2.4 percent, you may not surcharge more than 2.4 percent.

You must notify your acquirer (usually your payment processor) at least 30 days before you start. Visa's materials describe this as notice to the acquirer, not to Visa directly. Processors often collect more detail from you, for example the start date, whether you surcharge by card brand or by product, the sales channel and the number of locations. Adyen's published compliance page is one example of such a list.

For disclosure, Visa requires a sign at the entrance of the store and at the point of sale, and a separate line item on every receipt. Visa publishes sample signs and font size guidance. Online, the fee must be shown before the customer pays.

Only credit cards may carry a surcharge. Visa debit and prepaid cards may not, even if the customer presses 'credit' at the terminal. Visa's Q&A states that choosing credit on a debit card only changes how the card is verified, not what type of card it is.

Mastercard: notice to two parties, brand level or product level

Mastercard's public surcharge page says surcharging has been allowed on Mastercard credit cards in the US since January 27, 2013, following a class action settlement. Surcharges are not allowed on Debit Mastercard or prepaid Mastercard.

Unlike Visa, Mastercard asks the merchant to notify both Mastercard and the acquirer at least 30 days before starting. The Mastercard notice goes through an online form that asks for your business details, the number of surcharging locations, the sales channel (in person, e-commerce, mail order or phone order) and the type of surcharge. One processor, Adyen, notes that the registration is not currently required for credit card surcharges at its platform and that Mastercard's rules are being updated later in 2026. So ask your processor how they handle this today.

There are two ways to surcharge on Mastercard. A brand-level surcharge applies the same percentage to all Mastercard credit cards. Its cap is the lesser of your average effective rate for Mastercard credit or the Maximum Surcharge Cap of 4 percent. A product-level surcharge applies a rate to a specific Mastercard credit product, and may not exceed your cost to accept that product minus the Durbin Amendment's debit interchange cap.

Disclosure follows the same pattern: clear notice at the point of interaction, and the receipt must show the surcharge amount in dollars. Mastercard states that its rules do not override state or federal law, including state restrictions on credit surcharging and rules on deceptive disclosures.

American Express and Discover: the less visible rules

American Express publishes its rules in the Merchant Operating Guide and Merchant Regulations, which are not always easy to find as a public page. The US Merchant Reference Guide we read (October 2020 edition) says in section 3.2 that merchants may offer discounts for cash if the discount is disclosed clearly, offered to all customers and does not differentiate on the basis of the issuer. It also says merchants must not impose restrictions, conditions, disadvantages or fees when the Card is accepted unless they are imposed equally on other payment products, with exceptions for cash and checks.

In practice, industry summaries describe the Amex position as: if you surcharge, apply the same terms to every credit card brand you accept, keep the fee in line with your actual costs and disclose it clearly. These summaries are from processors and not from Amex itself, and Amex's rules are updated by Amex. Ask your processor for the current Amex wording.

For Discover, we could not find a public Discover page that sets out a numeric cap. Adyen's compliance page states that Discover surcharges cannot exceed the cost of acceptance and that Adyen needs 30 days' notice. Other processors describe a notice step with Discover as well. Treat Discover as 'comparable to Visa and Mastercard: credit only, no debit or prepaid, notice and disclosure', and confirm the details with your processor.

One more rule that matters if you accept several brands: Adyen's guidance and the processor summaries we read say to apply the same surcharge rate and terms across all credit brands you accept. This equal treatment condition is one of the items the pending Visa and Mastercard settlement would remove for Visa and Mastercard (see the settlement section below). It is not in force today.

Debit and prepaid cards: leave them out

Every network source we read says the same thing: no surcharge on debit and no surcharge on prepaid. This is one of the easiest items to get wrong because many terminals cannot tell whether a card is debit or credit before the customer taps.

A debit card run as 'credit' (signature instead of PIN) is still a debit card. Adyen's guidance states that surcharging is prohibited in that case too. If your terminal or software cannot detect the card type, ask your processor if it supports card type detection, or consider a cash discount instead.

Some states go further. Colorado's statute lists cash, check, debit card (with or without PIN) and gift card redemption as payments that cannot be surcharged. Louisiana, according to a processor summary of 2026 changes, banned debit card surcharges by retailers effective August 1, 2026. Texas has a separate ban on debit and stored-value surcharges in its Business and Commerce Code, per the NCSL list.

In the Card Fee Check you tell us whether your terminal can tell debit from credit. If not, that item gets a red light, because the fee would hit cards it must not hit.

The 30-day notice and the disclosure rules

All four networks use a 30-day notice in the sources we read. It is not a request for permission, and it is not optional. The clock starts when your processor or the network receives the notice, so a start date on the sign cannot be earlier than 30 days after you sent it.

Who gets the notice differs. For Visa, you notify your acquirer. For Mastercard, the public rules say you notify Mastercard through its online form and your acquirer. Your processor may add its own form. Discover notice is typically through the acquirer as well. Keep a copy of every notice and a record of the date.

Typical content of a notice: legal name and address of the business, the locations that will surcharge, the start date, the channels (in person, online, phone), whether you set the fee by brand or by product, the percentage, and a statement that you will follow the rules for caps, disclosure and debit and prepaid.

If you started surcharging without notice, the fix is simple in principle: stop, send the notice, wait 30 days, then restart. Ask your processor first, because some will want to talk to you about what already happened.

Visa's guidance asks for three places: at the point of entry, at the point of sale and on every receipt. Mastercard requires clear notice at the point of interaction and the amount on the receipt. State law can add exact wording, as in Colorado, where the statute prescribes language that starts 'To cover the cost of processing a credit or charge card transaction'.

The entrance sign should say that a surcharge applies to credit card payments and give the rate. The register sign repeats it, so that a customer can still switch to cash or debit before paying. Adyen's guidance adds that you should not describe the surcharge as set or charged by the card network or the bank, because it is your fee, and that customers must be able to cancel or choose another way to pay before it is applied.

On the receipt the surcharge must be a separate line with its dollar amount. A fee folded into the item price or into the total does not meet this. Receipt wording should be short and neutral, for example 'Credit card surcharge 2.5%'.

Online and by phone follow the same idea. Online, show the fee before the payment step and on the page where the total is shown. By phone, say it out loud before you take the card number. Oklahoma's new law, for example, asks for disclosure on the home page and the point-of-sale page online and verbally by phone.

States that prohibit credit card surcharges

Visa's US Q&A, as of February 15, 2024, lists Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico as places that prohibit surcharging. Oklahoma has changed since (see below). The NCSL list of state surcharge statutes confirms the bans in Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-133ff), Maine (9-A M.R.S. 8-509, with a carve-out for government entities) and Massachusetts (G.L. c. 140D, section 28A). In these states the rule is about the law, not the network: a processor may be willing to enable a surcharge, but the merchant is still the one who breaks the state law.

In all three, discounts for cash are allowed. NCSL notes that Massachusetts requires the discount to be offered to all buyers and clearly disclosed, and that Maine treats a discount as not a surcharge. For a restaurant in Boston or Hartford, the practical path is a posted cash price or a cash discount, not a card surcharge.

Visa's Q&A says surcharging rules follow the law of the place where each outlet is located. A business based in a permissive state that has a shop in Massachusetts must follow the Massachusetts rule at that shop.

Three states have bans on paper that are disputed or complicated. Texas has a ban on credit surcharges in its Finance Code and a ban on debit surcharges in its Business and Commerce Code (NCSL), with a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation. A 2018 federal ruling in Rowell v. Paxton found the credit ban unconstitutional as applied to the plaintiff merchants, and a later Attorney General opinion suggests the ban can still be enforced in some situations, according to the NFIB guide. Florida's statute bans surcharges and makes a violation a misdemeanor (NCSL), yet the NFIB guide reports that a 2015 federal ruling (Dana's Railroad Supply) struck it down and that surcharges are allowed with disclosure before purchase. Kansas banned credit and debit surcharges in statute per NCSL, and a processor summary reports that surcharging has been permitted since January 1, 2025 with clear advance notice.

California's Civil Code section 1748.1 still reads that a retailer may not impose a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card instead of cash, with a penalty of three times the actual damages plus attorney's fees if not repaid within 30 days of a demand. NCSL notes that a 2015 federal ruling (Italian Colors Restaurant v. Harris) declared it unconstitutional. The NFIB guide adds that California's SB 478 requires mandatory fees to be in the advertised price, so a surcharge added at the register on top of the advertised price is a risk. We could not open the California Attorney General or legislature page on SB 478 during our research, so treat California as an unclear and high-caution state. The Card Fee Check gives it a yellow or red light and explains why.

States that allow surcharges with a cap or conditions

Colorado: C.R.S. 5-2-212, amended in 2021 (SB21-091) and in force for contracts from July 1, 2022 per the Colorado Attorney General's administrative opinion, allows a surcharge of up to 2 percent of the total or up to the merchant discount fee you actually pay, whichever basis you choose. It requires signage that customers can see (or an online notice before checkout), a separate line on the receipt and only one surcharge per transaction. It bans a surcharge on cash, check, debit (with or without PIN) and gift card redemption. The statute sets the exact words of the notice. Violations bring liability under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code and can be sued by the Administrator. A processor summary reports that HB25-1090, effective January 1, 2026, also requires mandatory fees to be in the advertised price in Colorado. We did not confirm that bill from a primary source, so check it for your business.

Oklahoma: Senate Bill 677, signed May 28, 2025, took effect November 1, 2025 per law firm Bass, Berry and Sims. It repealed the old ban on surcharges. The surcharge may not exceed the lesser of 2 percent of the total or your actual cost to process the card. In person, the amount must be shown clearly at the point of entry and the point of sale. Online, it must be on the home page and the point-of-sale page. By phone, it must be said out loud. A seller that accepts only credit cards cannot add a surcharge. Cash and similar discounts remain allowed.

New York: General Business Law 518 was amended by a bill signed December 13, 2023 and effective February 11, 2024, according to a law firm client alert. If you surcharge, you must clearly post the total credit card price, including the surcharge, and the price for other payment methods. The final charge cannot be higher than the posted price, and the surcharge cannot exceed what the card company charges you for that card use. The penalty is up to $500 per violation. This builds on the 2018 New York Court of Appeals decision in Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman, which held that a single sticker price plus a percentage add-on at the register does not comply, and that the full dollars and cents credit price must be posted.

Minnesota: state law allows a surcharge up to 5 percent but requires oral disclosure at the sale and a conspicuous sign, per NCSL. Network caps are lower, so the network cap is the one that binds. Visa's Q&A also lists New Jersey as a state with surcharging requirements; the NFIB guide describes a cost cap and a notice rule there. Other states named in that guide, such as Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, South Dakota and Utah, have cost or notice rules. The guide is a secondary summary and we did not verify each statute, so the Card Fee Check marks these states as 'conditions apply, confirm' and lists what to look for.

Online, phone and multi-state businesses: State rules apply to where each location is. For online sales, the rule that applies depends on the customer's state as well as yours, and the sources do not agree on one simple answer. Visa's Q&A says the rules follow the law where each outlet is located. A cautious approach for an online shop selling nationally is to avoid a surcharge in the strictest states, or to use a discount model.

A restaurant group with locations in Colorado, New York and Massachusetts has three different answers: a capped surcharge with prescribed sign wording in Colorado, a posted full card price in New York, and no surcharge in Massachusetts. This is the reason the multi-state price of $39 exists: the check lists each state separately.

The Visa and Mastercard settlement: what may change, and what has not

On June 9, 2026, Judge Brian Cogan of the Eastern District of New York gave preliminary approval to a revised settlement between Visa, Mastercard and about 12 million merchants, according to Payments Dive. Final approval was still pending after a notice and comment period. The National Association of Convenience Stores said it would appeal if final approval is granted.

Reported contents include a 10 basis point cut in credit interchange for five years, a cap of 1.25 percent for standard consumer cards for eight years, the right to decline some premium and commercial cards, and new rights to surcharge and to offer discounts. A summary from payments company Paykings, which is a secondary source, adds details: a 3 percent cap for both networks, or your cost of acceptance if lower; the ability to surcharge Visa without surcharging other brands; and permission to show separate card and cash totals. It reports a fairness hearing set for November 16, 2026. We could not confirm that date from a primary source.

None of this is in force. The settlement as reported would require the networks to change their rules within 90 days of the final approval date. It also does not override state law, so the bans in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts would stay.

What to do now: keep your setup as it is today and follow the rules that are in force. If you were about to start surcharging, you can go ahead under today's rules, but check back after final approval because the cap and equal treatment conditions may change. The Card Fee Check report shows the date of the rules used so you can see whether a newer version exists.

Federal rules, the FTC and fee pricing

The Federal Trade Commission's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect May 12, 2025, but it covers only businesses that offer, display or advertise live-event tickets or short-term lodging, per the FTC's own FAQ. Restaurants and general retail are not covered by that rule. For covered sellers, the FTC says a card fee that is mandatory must be in the total price, and an avoidable one can be left out of the total but must be disclosed before payment.

Federal law also protects the cash discount: the NFIB guide cites 15 U.S.C. 1666f, which says card issuers may not restrict merchants from offering a discount for cash, checks or other non-credit payment, if offered to all prospective buyers and disclosed clearly. We confirmed the citation only through the NFIB guide.

Visa has also been enforcing. Payments Dive reported on December 17, 2024 that Visa goes to merchants directly, uses mystery shoppers and warning notices, and has cited surcharging above the cap, surcharging debit, and cash discount programs that make card prices about 3.5 percent higher. Fines were not quantified in that article, and one ISO executive said fines can arrive without a warning and increase within days. Law firm Arnall Golden Gregory reports fines that start at $1,000 and escalate. Treat the fine figures as industry reports, not as Visa published numbers.

Wording templates you can adapt

These are starting points. They are not approved wording. Some states (Colorado, for example) prescribe the exact words, so check your state's wording and your processor's requirements before printing.

• Door sign: 'A surcharge of 2.5% applies to credit card payments. No surcharge on cash or debit cards.'
• Register sign: 'A 2.5% surcharge is added to credit card payments to help cover our card processing costs. Pay with cash or a debit card to avoid it.'
• Menu or price list line: 'Credit card payments include a 2.5% surcharge. Debit cards and cash are not surcharged.'
• Receipt line: 'Credit card surcharge (2.5%): $1.25', shown as its own line above the total.
• Online checkout: 'A 2.5% surcharge applies to credit card payments. You will see the amount before you place your order.'
• Phone script: 'We add a 2.5 percent surcharge to credit card payments. Debit cards and cash are not surcharged. Do you want to continue with a credit card?'
• Cash discount sign (where allowed): 'Our prices are listed for card payments. Pay with cash and get 3% off.'
• New York style two-price display: 'Cash price $20.00. Credit card price $20.50.'

A pre-launch checklist for any card fee

Use this list before you turn on any card fee. The Card Fee Check goes through the same items for your specific setup.

• Is the fee legal in each state where you have a location? If you are in Connecticut, Maine or Massachusetts, choose a cash discount instead.
• Is the rate at or below your cost of acceptance and below the lowest network cap that applies (Visa 3%, Mastercard 4% brand level today)?
• Are debit and prepaid cards excluded for sure, even when run as credit?
• Did your processor get the 30-day notice in writing, and do you have the date? Did you register with Mastercard if your processor asks for it?
• Is there a sign at the entrance and at the register that names the rate?
• Does the receipt show the surcharge as its own line with the dollar amount?
• Do online and phone orders show the fee before payment?
• Do you treat all credit brands you accept the same way?
• If you use a cash discount: is the discount offered to everyone, and is the card price shown as required by your processor and state?
• Did you save the date, the rules you relied on and a copy of the sign for your records?

Sources

• Visa: Merchant surcharging considerations and requirements (US, version 08142023)
• Visa US merchant surcharging Q&A (copy hosted by James Madison University, February 2024)
• Mastercard: Merchant surcharge rules
• American Express: Merchant Reference Guide U.S. (October 2020)
• Adyen: Surcharge compliance (US network rules)
• Payments Dive: Visa lowers surcharge cap
• Arnall Golden Gregory: Visa reduces merchant surcharge cap to 3 percent
• Payments Dive: Visa surcharge rule enforcement (December 17, 2024)
• Payments Dive: Court approves Visa-Mastercard settlement (June 2026)
• Paykings: What the Visa-Mastercard settlement changes for merchants (secondary source)
• NCSL: Credit or debit card surcharge statutes by state
• Colorado Revised Statutes 5-2-212
• Colorado Attorney General: Administrative opinion on the amended surcharge statute (June 29, 2022)
• Bass, Berry and Sims: Oklahoma formally allows credit card surcharges (SB 677)
• Katten: New York will require additional credit card surcharge disclosures (January 2024)
• New York Court of Appeals: Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman (2018)
• California Civil Code section 1748.1
• FTC: Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, frequently asked questions
• NFIB: Credit Card Surcharging Guide (2025, secondary source)
• Intellipay: 2026 surcharge and interchange fee laws by state (secondary source)