Florida Credit Card Surcharge Law (Fla. Stat. 501.0117)

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This page is general information, not legal advice. It is current as of September 16, 2026, and 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 is from the Online Sunshine site of the Florida Legislature (2026 Florida Statutes). The court history is from the Eleventh Circuit opinion and the US Supreme Court docket.

What Fla. Stat. 501.0117 says

Subsection (1) says a seller or lessor in a sales or lease transaction may not impose a surcharge on the buyer or lessee for electing to use a credit card instead of cash, check or similar means, if the seller or lessor accepts credit cards. Subsection (2) makes a violation a misdemeanor of the second degree.

The 2015 court ruling

In Dana's Railroad Supply v. Attorney General, 807 F.3d 1235 (11th Cir. 2015), decided November 4, 2015, a group of Florida merchants challenged section 501.0117. The Eleventh Circuit held that the law regulates speech, because it treats the same price difference differently depending on whether it is described as a card surcharge or a cash discount, and struck the statute down as an unconstitutional abridgment of free speech. Florida's Attorney General asked the US Supreme Court to review the decision (Bondi v. Dana's Railroad Supply, No. 15-1482). The Supreme Court docket shows the petition was denied on April 3, 2017. The Legislature has not removed the section: it still appears in the 2026 Florida Statutes. A published statute and a court ruling that it is unconstitutional can coexist, which is why you should confirm your position with counsel rather than rely on either one alone.

Card network rules still apply

Whatever the state position, your merchant agreement requires you to follow card network rules. Visa's Merchant Surcharging Considerations and Requirements document says merchants in the US may surcharge credit transactions only, never debit or prepaid cards. The surcharge may not exceed your cost of acceptance, and where that cost is above 3% of the transaction you still cannot surcharge more than 3%. You must notify your acquirer 30 days before you start, disclose the surcharge at the point of entry and the point of sale, and itemize the final surcharge amount separately on the transaction receipt. Mastercard, American Express and Discover set their own conditions, so check current rules for each network you accept.

Cash discounts and dual pricing

Section 501.0117 itself says it does not apply to a discount offered to all prospective customers to induce payment by cash, check or other non-credit-card means. That exception is in the statute text. What it does not do is define dual pricing or "non-cash adjustment" programs, and Visa says a program presented as a cash discount can be treated as a surcharge if the card price works as a fee added at the register. Have counsel and your processor review any program before launch.

What Florida merchants should do

1. Talk to counsel about the status of section 501.0117 before you surcharge, given that the statute is still published. 2. Work out your actual cost of accepting credit cards from your processing statements. 3. Keep any surcharge at or below that cost and at or below Visa's 3% ceiling, and check the other networks you accept. 4. Notify your acquirer at least 30 days before you start. 5. Configure your terminal and gateway so debit and prepaid cards are never surcharged. 6. Disclose the surcharge at the point of entry and the point of sale, in store and online, and show it as its own line on every receipt. 7. If you prefer a cash discount, offer it to all customers and disclose it clearly. 8. Recheck the rules at least once a year.