Credit Card Surcharge Laws by State (2026 Guide)

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This guide is general information, not legal advice. It is current as of September 16, 2026. Surcharge law has changed several times since 2023: Oklahoma replaced its ban with a 2% cap, Kansas rewrote its law, Louisiana banned debit surcharges, and California's hidden-fee law changed how card fees must be advertised. Before you start surcharging, confirm your plan with your processor and your own counsel. CELER Merchants is an independent merchant services agent. We are not a processor or a law firm. Every state rule below links to a statute or a state agency page. If we could not confirm a state's rule from one of those primary sources, we say so instead of guessing.

What a surcharge is, and what it is not

A surcharge is an extra fee added at checkout when a customer pays by credit card. A cash discount lowers the posted price for customers who pay by cash or another non-card method. Dual pricing shows a cash price and a card price side by side. The difference matters. Several states that ban surcharges, including Connecticut and Maine, still allow discounts for paying by cash. Visa also says a program billed as a cash discount can be treated as a surcharge if the card price ends up as a fee added at the register. For the full comparison, see our guide on cash discount vs surcharge.

Card network rules: the rules that apply in every state

Even where state law allows surcharging, your merchant agreement requires you to follow the card network rules. Visa and Mastercard allow surcharges on credit cards only, never on debit or prepaid cards. The surcharge cannot be more than your cost to accept that card. Visa caps it at 3%. Mastercard sets its own cap, so check Mastercard's current rules with your processor. Both require 30 days' notice before you start. Mastercard says it is revising its surcharge notice and registration process, so ask your processor for the current steps. American Express and Discover publish their rules in merchant regulations that are only available to enrolled merchants. We could not confirm their public rules, so they are not in the table. Read your own Amex and Discover agreements, or ask your processor.

US state-by-state surcharge laws

The table covers all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. "Prohibited" means a statute bans credit card surcharges. "Allowed with conditions" means a statute or state agency sets its own caps, disclosure rules or limits on top of the card network rules. "Statute on the books, disputed in court" means a statute still appears in the official code but a court has ruled against it, so its enforceability needs a check with counsel. "No confirmed statewide restriction found" means we did not find and confirm a statewide surcharge statute from a primary source. It does not mean anything goes. Network rules still apply, and so do general consumer protection laws, local ordinances and industry rules (for example, for government payments, fuel or regulated professions). People often search for Arizona, Indiana and Maryland. For those three we found no statewide surcharge statute to confirm, so confirm locally before relying on that.

How to surcharge compliantly: a checklist

1. Confirm your state allows surcharging, using the table above and your counsel. If you have locations in more than one state, check each one, and check the rules where your online customers are. 2. Give your acquirer at least 30 days' written notice, and give Mastercard notice as well. Ask your processor which registration steps currently apply. 3. Set up the terminal and checkout to recognize the card type, so debit and prepaid cards are never surcharged. 4. Set the rate at or below your actual cost to accept credit cards, and below the lowest cap that applies to you: 3% for Visa, 2% in Colorado and Oklahoma, actual cost in New Jersey. 5. Post the disclosure at the point of entry and the point of sale, and on the checkout page online. Tell phone customers out loud where the law requires it. Use the exact statutory wording where your state requires it, as Colorado does. 6. Show the surcharge as its own line on every receipt. 7. In New York, post the total card price, or cash and card prices side by side. In California, include any card fee a customer cannot avoid in the advertised price. 8. Keep your processing statements, so you can show your surcharge is not higher than your cost. New Jersey's Division of Consumer Affairs can ask to see these records. 9. Review the rules at least once a year, because they keep changing.

Debit and prepaid cards: never surcharge them

Visa and Mastercard both prohibit surcharging debit and prepaid cards in the US. That includes a debit card run as "credit" or signature debit. Some state laws say the same thing directly. Colorado bans surcharges on debit cards and gift cards. Maine and Puerto Rico ban surcharges on credit and debit cards alike. Louisiana's Act 751, in effect since August 1, 2026, bans debit card surcharges by retail businesses and lets customers sue for repeated or uncured violations. Your terminal or gateway has to tell debit from credit by card BIN. A flat fee on every card payment is where most merchants break this rule.

Canada, including Quebec

In Canada, Visa and Mastercard have allowed merchants to surcharge credit cards since October 6, 2022, after a class action settlement. The cap is the lower of your average cost to accept that network's credit cards or 2.4%. Visa requires at least 30 days' written notice to your acquirer, and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says to give your processor advance written notice; check Mastercard's current rules as well. Disclose the surcharge at the point of entry and the point of sale, and show it on the receipt. Debit and prepaid cards cannot be surcharged under Visa's rules. You also cannot add a surcharge on top of a service or convenience fee. Quebec is the exception. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says surcharges are permitted except in Quebec. Section 224 of Quebec's Consumer Protection Act bars charging more than the advertised price, and that price must include every charge except sales taxes. Merchants selling to Quebec customers, including online, should not surcharge. A true cash discount is a separate question to take to counsel. For the full Canadian rules and a province-by-province table, see our guide to credit card surcharging in Canada.

Common surcharging mistakes

Surcharging debit or prepaid cards, often with one flat fee for all cards. Charging the full 3% when your real cost is lower. Surcharging in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts or Puerto Rico. Assuming the old Oklahoma ban still applies, or ignoring its new 2% cap. Leaving out the point-of-entry sign, the checkout-page notice or the receipt line. Using generic signs in states that require specific wording or amounts, such as Colorado and New Jersey. Starting before the 30-day notice period ends. Calling a surcharge a cash discount. Relying on a processor blog or an old state list instead of the statute. Setting up one national program for locations in states with different rules.