Credit Card Surcharge Laws by State
Credit card surcharge laws by state change more often than most dealer groups can track from a service drive. This page holds every state's status, cap, and rules in one table, maintained for franchise dealerships running a compliant surcharge program. Surcharging is legal in 47 states. Three states ban it outright.
What Visa and Mastercard Require Everywhere
Before any state law applies, the card networks set the floor. Every surcharging merchant in the country runs under these rules, no exceptions.
Surcharging is legal in 47 states. Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts ban it outright, and no dealership operating in those three states can add a surcharge to a card transaction, full stop. Everywhere else, state law either stays silent and defers to the card networks, or it layers its own cap on top of them. Either way, the network rules below apply first.
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Visa: 3% Cap
Or your actual cost of acceptance, whichever is lower. In force since April 2023.
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Mastercard: 4% Cap
Same actual cost logic as Visa, just a higher ceiling.
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Debit Never Surcharges
Debit, prepaid, and gift cards can never carry a surcharge, in any state. A network hard rule.
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Disclosure Is Mandatory
Notify your acquirer, post notice at the door and the counter, and show the surcharge as its own line on the receipt.
Pressing "Credit" Does Not Change the Card
A debit card run as credit at the terminal is still a debit card underneath. The network rule on debit, prepaid, and gift cards follows the card itself, not the button an advisor or customer presses at checkout. There is no workaround, and no state law overrides this.
The two disclosure requirements above are not optional add-ons: notifying your acquirer before you start surcharging and posting notice at the point of entry and the point of sale are both conditions of staying inside network rules, separate from whatever your state adds on top.
All 50 States, One Table
Status, cap, and the one line that matters for each state. No statute citations here, those live on each state's own page as it ships.
| State | Status | Cap | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Card network rules set the ceiling and the disclosure standard. |
| Alaska | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute on surcharging. Network rules apply. |
| Arizona | Allowed | Card network caps | No state law for private merchants. A 2026 ban attempt did not pass. |
| Arkansas | Allowed | Card network caps | No state cap. State guidance points merchants to network rules and clear disclosure. |
| California | Allowed | Card network caps | The old state ban is still on the books but unenforceable since a 2018 federal ruling. Disclose clearly and match posted prices at checkout. |
| Colorado | Allowed with limits | 2% state cap | State law caps surcharges at 2 percent or your actual processing cost, with required customer notice. |
| Connecticut | Banned | No surcharging | Flat statutory ban, actively enforced with civil penalties. Cash discounts remain legal. |
| Delaware | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. A proposed cost cap bill died in committee. |
| Florida | Allowed | Card network caps | The state ban was declared unconstitutional in 2015 and cannot be enforced. Disclose clearly. |
| Georgia | Allowed with limits | Actual processing cost | The attorney general holds surcharges to your actual card cost, with advance notice and receipt disclosure. |
| Hawaii | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Idaho | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Illinois | Allowed | Card network caps | No state cap. A widely cited 1 percent cap comes from a bill that never became law. |
| Indiana | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Iowa | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute limits surcharging. Network rules apply. |
| Kansas | Allowed with limits | Actual processing cost | The old ban was struck down in 2021. Surcharging is allowed with clear advance disclosure, capped at your actual cost. |
| Kentucky | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Louisiana | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute for private merchants. Network rules apply. |
| Maine | Banned | No surcharging | State law bans surcharges for private sellers. A repeal bill failed in 2026. Cash discounts remain legal. |
| Maryland | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Massachusetts | Banned | No surcharging | Flat statutory ban, never struck down. Cash discounts remain legal. |
| Michigan | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. A 2013 ban attempt never passed. |
| Minnesota | Allowed with limits | 5% state cap | State law caps surcharges at 5 percent and requires oral notice plus posted signage. Network caps are lower in practice. |
| Mississippi | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Missouri | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. A proposed cost cap died in committee. |
| Montana | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Nebraska | Allowed | Card network caps | No state law for private merchants. Cost caps you may see cited apply only to government offices. |
| Nevada | Allowed with limits | Actual processing cost | Attorney general guidance holds surcharges to your actual processing cost, with posted notice and receipt itemization. |
| New Hampshire | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. A 2013 ban attempt never passed. |
| New Jersey | Allowed with limits | Actual processing cost | State law caps surcharges at your actual processing cost, with disclosure posted before the customer pays. |
| New Mexico | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute, though Albuquerque has its own local disclosure ordinance. |
| New York | Allowed with limits | Actual processing cost | The surcharge cannot exceed what processing actually costs you, and the full card price must be posted up front. |
| North Carolina | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| North Dakota | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Ohio | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute today. A point of sale disclosure bill is pending in the legislature. |
| Oklahoma | Allowed with limits | 2% or actual cost | The old ban ended November 2025. Surcharges are allowed up to 2 percent or actual cost, with posted disclosure. |
| Oregon | Allowed | Card network caps | No general state statute. Vehicle price advertising rules still require honest totals. |
| Pennsylvania | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute yet. A disclosure and cost cap bill is moving through the House. |
| Rhode Island | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. The state cap you may see cited traces to a bill that never passed. |
| South Carolina | Allowed | Card network caps | No enacted state law. A 2013 ban attempt failed. |
| South Dakota | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. State consumer guidance mirrors network rules: actual cost and clear posting. |
| Tennessee | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Texas | Allowed | Card network caps | The ban still written in state law is permanently enjoined. Surcharging is available with clear disclosure. |
| Utah | Allowed | Card network caps | A short lived ban expired in 2014 and was never renewed. Network rules apply. |
| Vermont | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Virginia | Allowed | Card network caps | No surcharge cap. A 2025 total price law targets mandatory fees, so keep the surcharge clearly optional and disclosed. |
| Washington | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| West Virginia | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Wisconsin | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
| Wyoming | Allowed | Card network caps | No state statute. Network rules apply. |
Three states carry a flat ban: Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts. Eight more allow surcharging but cap it below or alongside the network ceilings: Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma, fresh off its own 2025 repeal. Every other state defers to Visa and Mastercard's own caps and disclosure rules.
What This Means at the Counter
A 50-state table is useful for a compliance binder. What your front desk actually needs is simpler than that.
Your service drive does not need to memorize which of the three states ban surcharging, which eight cap it below the network ceiling, and which thirty-nine defer to the card networks' own caps. That is not a realistic ask for an advisor closing out a repair order between customers. We track the state, not your front desk.
Disclosure Runs the Same Way Everywhere
Signage at the point of entry, notice at the point of sale, and the surcharge itemized as its own line on the receipt, the three requirements every surcharging state and every card network agree on. Your terminals and signage handle it the same way at every location, in every state you operate in.
Debit, prepaid, and gift cards never carry a surcharge, in any of the 50 states, full stop. That protects the customer paying with debit and it protects you from a compliance question that never needed to come up. Credit cards run under the standard 3% program, disclosed before the charge and itemized on the receipt afterward.
See the full mechanics of the credit and debit fork on the surcharge program page, or walk through exactly what happens at the terminal on the how it works page.
Straight Answers on State Rules
Three: Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts. Surcharging is legal in the other 47 states, either under card network rules alone or with an added state cap. Cash discounts remain legal in all three banned states.
In most states, yes. Visa caps credit card surcharges at 3 percent, and the surcharge always has to stay at or under your actual cost of acceptance. A handful of states set a lower ceiling, like Colorado at 2 percent, and three states ban surcharging entirely. Check the table above for your state.
No. Debit, prepaid, and gift cards can never carry a surcharge, in any state, under a hard card network rule. Running the card as credit at the terminal does not change what kind of card it is underneath.
Notice posted at the point of entry, notice again at the point of sale before the charge runs, and the surcharge shown as its own line item on the receipt. That standard holds across every surcharging state and both major card networks.
You risk a state law violation on top of a card network violation, since the network caps sit at 3 to 4 percent while some states set a lower ceiling. Talk to us about your state's specific cap before you set your rate. For the full list of questions we get on pricing and the program itself, see the FAQ page.
Straight Answers on Your State
Know Where Your Dealership Stands
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