By Justin Haag, founderOctober 6, 20266 min read

Credit card surcharge rules in 2026, quoted from the rulebook

Surcharge rules are widely summarized and rarely quoted. This article quotes them. Everything below marked "Visa rules" comes from the April 18, 2026 edition of the Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, the public document Visa publishes for merchants and acquirers.

1. Credit cards only. Never debit or prepaid.

A surcharge in the United States applies to credit card transactions only. For terminals that offer "credit" and "debit" buttons, Visa requires that "Debit Card Transactions are not assessed a Credit Card Surcharge" and that "it is made clear to the Cardholder that surcharges are not permitted on debit Transactions regardless of whether a Cardholder selects the 'credit' or 'debit' button" (Visa rules, section 5.5.1.9). Pressing "credit" on a debit card does not make it a credit card. Equipment that cannot tell the difference cannot run a compliant program.

2. The cap is 3%, and never more than your own cost

"In the US Region or a US Territory: The Credit Card Surcharge maximum amount is 3.00%" (Visa rules, section 5.5.1.8). The same section limits the surcharge to the merchant's Visa surcharge cap, which is tied to your actual cost of acceptance, so a merchant whose cost is 2.4% may not charge 3%. Mastercard's published cap is widely reported as 4%; we have not verified the current Mastercard rulebook text and say so here.

3. Thirty days' written notice to your acquirer

"An Acquirer must ensure that its Merchant notifies its Acquirer in writing at least 30 calendar days before publicly announcing its intention to impose a Credit Card Surcharge, or 30 calendar days before first assessing a Credit Card Surcharge, whichever is earlier" (Visa rules, section 5.5.1.5). The notice goes to your acquirer; Visa no longer requires a separate notification to Visa itself for U.S. merchants under this section.

4. Disclosure at the door, at the register, and on the receipt

A merchant "must, at both the point of entry into the Merchant Outlet and the Point-of-Transaction, clearly and prominently disclose any Credit Card Surcharge that will be assessed." The point-of-sale disclosure must include "the exact amount or percentage of the Credit Card Surcharge," "a statement that the Credit Card Surcharge is being assessed by the Merchant and is only applicable to credit Transactions," and "a statement that the Credit Card Surcharge amount is not greater than the applicable Merchant Discount Rate" (Visa rules, section 5.5.1.9). Visa's own example of adequate disclosure is a sign at the main entrance in at least 32-point Arial and a sign at every checkout in at least 16-point Arial, in each case no smaller or less prominent than the surrounding text (Table 5-4).

The surcharge "must be included in the Transaction amount and be identified within the Transaction data" (section 5.5.1.7), which in practice means a separate line on the receipt. For online, phone, and mail orders, "the Cardholder must be provided the opportunity to cancel the Transaction subsequent to the Credit Card Surcharge disclosure" (section 5.5.1.9).

5. One rule for every card brand you accept

If another card brand you accept prohibits or limits surcharges, Visa restricts your ability to surcharge Visa in that channel on different terms (section 5.5.1.6). The practical reading: set one surcharge policy and apply it the same way to every credit card brand you take.

6. State law can change the answer

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico ban credit card surcharges by statute; Louisiana bans surcharges on debit cards; Colorado caps surcharges at 2% or the merchant's actual card fee, the seller's choice; Oklahoma caps them at 2% or the merchant's actual cost, whichever is less; and New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Virginia, California, Kansas, Texas, and the District of Columbia add disclosure, total-price, or cost-based rules. Each of those was read on the official statute site or in the court opinion for our state-by-state surcharge guide, which links the source and the date checked for every jurisdiction. If you operate in more than one state, the program has to clear every one of them.

What this means in practice

• Use equipment that detects debit on its own and prints the surcharge as its own line.
• File the acquirer notice and wait the 30 days.
• Post the entrance and register signs in the required sizes, with the three required statements.
• Charge one rate, at or below 3% and at or below your cost, to every credit card brand.
• Check your state. Then check it again next year.

If that list looks like more friction than a 3% fee is worth, a cash discount or dual pricing may fit better. Both sit outside the card networks' surcharge rules because they are discounts, not fees. State law still applies: a few states set their own discount rules, and Puerto Rico bans both.

General information, not legal advice. Rulebook quotations are from the Visa edition dated above and may change; state-law summaries were read on the official statute sites and in the court opinions linked from the state-by-state guide, which labels the few that rest partly on secondary sources. Confirm your program with your acquirer and your own counsel.