Colorado Credit Card Surcharge Law (C.R.S. 5-2-212)

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This page is general information, not legal advice. It is current as of September 16, 2026, and quotes or summarizes the primary sources listed at the end. Surcharge rules change through new laws, amendments and court cases, so check current rules with your processor and your own counsel before you add a card fee. CELER Merchants is an independent merchant services agent, not a law firm or a processor. The statute text quoted here is from the 2024 Colorado Revised Statutes printout published by the Colorado legislature.

What C.R.S. 5-2-212 allows

Under section 5-2-212(1)(a), a seller or lessor may impose a surcharge on a buyer or lessee who elects to use a credit or charge card instead of cash, check or similar means, following subsection (1)(c). The statute notes exceptions cross-referenced to sections 24-19.5-103(3) and 29-11.5-103(3). A surcharge is any additional amount imposed at the time of the sale or lease that increases the charge for the privilege of using a credit or charge card. Subsection (4) says a seller or lessor may surcharge under the section regardless of any contract entered into on or after July 1, 2022.

The two cap options

Option 1, section 5-2-212(1)(c)(I): an amount not to exceed 2% of the total cost of the sale or lease. Option 2, section 5-2-212(1)(c)(II): an amount not to exceed the merchant discount fee the seller incurs in processing the transaction, calculated at no more than the actual amount paid to the processor or service provider. The statute defines merchant discount fee as the actual fee, expressed as a percentage or fixed amount of the total transaction, that the seller pays its processor or service provider.

The required sign wording

The sign must be posted at your premises where customers can see it or, for online sales, displayed before the customer completes the transaction. For the 2% option the statute requires this wording: "To cover the cost of processing a credit or charge card transaction, and pursuant to section 5-2-212, Colorado Revised Statutes, a seller or lessor may impose a processing surcharge in an amount not to exceed 2% of the total payment made for goods or services purchased or leased by use of a credit or charge card. A seller or lessor shall not impose a processing surcharge on payments made by use of cash, a check, or a debit card or redemption of a gift card." For the merchant discount fee option, the wording is the same except that "2% of the total payment made for goods or services purchased or leased by use of a credit or charge card" is replaced with "the merchant discount fee that the seller or lessor incurs in processing the sales or lease transaction". The statute says your service provider may give you the means to make that disclosure.

Receipts, one surcharge, and what cannot be surcharged

Section 5-2-212(1)(d) requires the surcharge amount as a separate line item on the customer's receipt. Section (1)(e) allows only a single credit or charge card surcharge per transaction. Section (1)(f) bars any surcharge when the customer pays with cash or a check, uses a debit card whether or not a PIN is used, has the payment processed as a debit payment, or redeems a gift card. Subsection (2) says a discount offered to induce payment by cash, check or other non-card means is not a finance charge if it is offered to all prospective buyers and clearly and conspicuously disclosed.

Penalties

Under section 5-2-212(3), a seller or lessor who violates the section violates the Colorado Uniform Consumer Credit Code and is subject to liability as a creditor under the code, and the buyer or lessee is treated as a consumer.

How card network rules fit in

Every US merchant who accepts Visa also has to follow Visa's rules, whatever state law allows. Visa's U.S. Merchant Surcharge Q&A says to notify your acquirer at least 30 days before you start surcharging, to limit surcharging to credit cards (debit and prepaid cards cannot be surcharged, even when a debit cardholder selects "credit"), to keep the amount at or below your merchant discount rate for that card or 3%, whichever is lowest, and to disclose the surcharge at the point of entry, at the point of sale and on every receipt. Mastercard, American Express and Discover set their own conditions, so check current rules for each network you accept. Where a state rule and a network rule differ, follow the stricter one. Because Colorado's 2% option is lower than Visa's 3% ceiling, a national surcharge setting copied from another state can put a Colorado location over the state cap.