Maine Credit Card Surcharge Law (9-A M.R.S. 8-509)

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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 Maine Legislature's Office of the Revisor of Statutes website, which says its data for the page was extracted on October 20, 2025. The Revisor's Office notes that it cannot give legal advice or interpret Maine law.

What section 8-509 says

Subsection 1 reads: "A seller in a sales transaction may not impose a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card or debit card in lieu of payment by cash, check or similar means. For purposes of this section, 'surcharge' means any means of increasing the regular price to a cardholder that is not imposed on a customer paying by cash, check or similar means. A discount or reduction from the regular price is not a surcharge." Three points follow. The ban covers debit cards as well as credit cards. The definition is "any means" of increasing the regular price, so renaming a card fee does not change what it is. And a real discount from the regular price is outside the definition. Section 8-509 is part of Article 8-A, the Maine Truth-in-Lending article of the Maine Consumer Credit Code. It does not set its own penalty; ask counsel how the Code is enforced.

The governmental entity exception

Subsection 2 lets a governmental entity surcharge card payments for taxes, fines, charges, utility fees, regulatory fees, registration fees, license or permit fees, or a specific service or good it provides, if the surcharge is disclosed clearly before payment and does not exceed the card costs the entity directly incurs or that an authorized third-party payment service provider assesses. If the provider assesses no cost for a debit card transaction, the entity may not surcharge debit. The entity must tell consumers the surcharge can be avoided by paying by cash, check or other non-card means. Governmental entity includes state departments and agencies, counties, municipalities, plantations, quasi-municipal corporations, the Judicial Department, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and Maine Maritime Academy. The exception does not extend to private businesses.

Discounts versus disguised surcharges

The statute draws the line at the regular price. Lowering the regular price for customers who pay by cash or check is a discount. Raising the price for card users above the regular price is a surcharge. A program that posts a price and then adds a "non-cash adjustment" or "service fee" at the register when a card is used increases the price to the cardholder and fits the statute's "any means" wording. Do not describe a dual pricing or cash discount program as legal in Maine unless it genuinely works as a discount from your regular posted price and counsel has reviewed it. The statute allows discounts; it does not mention dual pricing.

What Maine merchants can do instead

1. Build card acceptance cost into your regular prices. 2. If you want to reward cash or check payments, offer a discount from the regular price and make it clear at the register and checkout. 3. Do not add any fee, however it is labeled, for paying by credit or debit card. 4. Review your processing costs instead: compare your effective rate, look at interchange-plus pricing and check your statement for fees you can remove. 5. If a sales rep pitches a surcharge program for a Maine location, ask how it complies with section 8-509 and get counsel's view in writing.

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. In Maine the state ban means a surcharge is off the table for private sellers regardless of network rules, so the relevant question is how any discount program is set up and disclosed.

If you also sell in other states

Massachusetts (M.G.L. c. 140D, s. 28A) and Connecticut (C.G.S. 42-133ff) also ban credit card surcharges while allowing discounts, but each statute is worded differently, so do not assume the same rules apply. New Hampshire and other states may have different rules or none we could confirm. Check the state-by-state table and set surcharging per location.