Is a cash discount legal in Puerto Rico?
Short answer: Puerto Rico bans credit and debit card surcharges, and its law counts any increase over the regular price for paying by card as a surcharge. It doesn’t address posting two prices, so get local legal advice before you start.
Puerto Rico at a glance.
Surcharges banned
- Surcharges
- No merchant may impose a surcharge on a consumer who pays with any valid means of payment, including a credit or debit card. 'Surcharge' means any increase over the regular price of a good or service imposed for paying by credit card. Fine up to $500 or up to six months in jail, or both.
- Cap
- Not applicable.
- Debit cards
- Banned (credit and debit).
- Cash discount with both prices
- Not addressed. Risk: if the cash price is treated as the 'regular price', a higher card price could be read as a surcharge. Post the card price as the regular price and offer cash as a discount; get local counsel.
- Law
- Ley 150-2008, as amended by Ley 152-2013 (10 L.P.R.A. 11-14)
Verified on primary source (PR Office of Management and Budget compilation); cash discount treatment unverified.
What to post on your tags.
- Show the cash price and the card price on every tag, menu or price list, the same size.
- Charge the posted price for how the customer pays. Don’t add a fee, “service charge” or “non-cash adjustment” at the register.
- Put a sign at the door and the counter explaining the two prices.
- Debit pays the posted card price. Never add a fee to debit.
Paymantis sets up cash discount processing for independent shops in Puerto Rico: free sign-up, free monthly service and a free terminal, with tags and signs worded for your state. Get started free.
Questions owners ask.
Can a business in Puerto Rico charge a fee for using a credit card?
Puerto Rico’s law bans credit card surcharges. No merchant may impose a surcharge on a consumer who pays with any valid means of payment, including a credit or debit card. 'Surcharge' means any increase over the regular price of a good or service imposed for paying by credit card. Fine up to $500 or up to six months in jail, or both.
Can I charge more for debit cards in Puerto Rico?
Not as a fee. Banned (credit and debit). With a cash discount, debit pays the posted card price.
Is a cash discount legal in Puerto Rico?
Not addressed. Risk: if the cash price is treated as the 'regular price', a higher card price could be read as a surcharge. Post the card price as the regular price and offer cash as a discount; get local counsel. Post both prices before the customer pays and add nothing at the register.
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.