Can a business charge a credit card fee?
Short answer: Sometimes. A surcharge on credit cards is allowed in most states but banned or disputed in six places, capped by Visa at 3% or your cost, never allowed on debit, and must be disclosed and registered with your processor first. The simpler legal route is a cash discount: post both a cash price and a card price on every tag.
If you add a surcharge, the rules.
- Credit cards only. Never debit or prepaid cards.
- No more than your cost of acceptance, and no more than 3% for Visa.
- Tell your processor and the card networks before you start.
- Disclose it at the entrance, at checkout and on every receipt.
- Follow your state: some ban surcharges, others cap them or require specific signs. Laws by state.
The simpler route: a cash discount.
A cash discount posts two prices on every tag, cash and card, before anyone pays. Nothing is added at the register, debit simply pays the card price, and the card price pays the processing. How a cash discount program works.
Questions owners ask.
Can I charge a fee for debit cards?
No. Visa and Mastercard don’t allow surcharges on debit or prepaid cards, and several states also ban them. A posted card price that applies to debit is different: it’s a price, not a fee.
Can I put a credit card fee sign at my register?
Not as a substitute for posting prices. New York lists a register sign announcing a card fee as illegal unless the total card price is posted, and states that ban surcharges don’t allow the fee at all.
What’s the safest way to pass on card costs?
A cash discount with both prices posted on every tag before the customer pays. Visa allows it, federal law protects cash discounts, and no state we checked bans posting two prices, though Puerto Rico’s law needs local advice.
Sources
General information, not legal advice. Rules change and differ by state and city; check the rules where your business is. See our terms and disclaimers.