Credit card surcharge laws in Delaware (2026)
Allowed, card-network rules only
You can surcharge credit cards in Delaware under card-network rules; the state has no surcharge statute, and the bills that would have added a ban (HB 488, 2022) or a cost cap with a ban above $1,500 (SB 89, 2025) both died in committee.
The details
| Disclosure | No state rule; Consumer Fraud Act (6 Del. C. 2513) deception/concealment standard only. |
|---|---|
| Statute | No state statute on credit card surcharges found |
| Source check | Verified on the official site |
| Checked | Oct 7, 2026 |
How this entry was checked
Absence confirmed on delcode.delaware.gov: Title 6 ch. 25 (Prohibited Trade Practices) has Subchapters I-XI only; the 'Subchapter XII. Credit Card Surcharges' that SB 89 would have created does not exist; subch. II and IV section lists contain nothing on surcharges. SB 89 (153rd GA, Huxtable) sat in Senate Executive from 2025-05-15 and died when the GA ended 2026-06-30 (INFERENCE from the GA calendar; BillTrack50 'Dead' from a secondary source). HB 488 (2022) ban died in House Administration. HB 315 (2026, interchange on tips) was not enacted (ch. 25 subch. IV still ends at 2544). Some trackers quote HB 488's 'no seller may impose a surcharge' text as law; it is not. Restaurants: Dept. of Labor notice 2025-01-31 bars deducting card processing fees from tips (19 Del. C. 902, 1107).
What this means for each program in Delaware
| Surcharging | Allowed under the card-network rules below. No state cap or disclosure rule beyond those was found. |
|---|---|
| Cash discounting | Permitted under the card-network rules. The posted price is the card price and cash pays less; every card, debit included, pays the posted price. |
| Dual pricing | Treated like a cash discount in practice (our reading; no Delaware statute addresses dual pricing): the card price shown first with the cash price beside it, every card pays the card price, cash pays the cash price. |
Card-network rules apply everywhere a surcharge is allowed
- Credit cards only. Never debit or prepaid, even when the customer presses "credit."
- Capped at 3% and never more than your own cost of accepting credit cards.
- Disclosed at the entrance and at the register, and printed as its own line on the receipt.
- Your processor (acquirer) gets written notice at least 30 days before you start.
Source: Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, April 2026 edition, sections 5.5.1.5 to 5.5.1.9. Mastercard's rules are comparable; its current rulebook text was not verified for this guide.
Sources
- No state statute on credit card surcharges found. Source read: delcode.delaware.gov
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Get my fit checkThis guide is general information, not legal advice. Each entry was checked against the official statute, regulation, or court decision linked on the page, as of the date shown, by Cardeva, LLC. Laws change, legislatures are in session, and court rulings can alter the practical status of a statute that remains on the books. Before starting any surcharge, cash-discount, or dual-pricing program, confirm the rules for your state and your payment types with your processor and your own attorney. Any program Cardeva sets up starts only after your processor approves it in writing; rely on that approval and your own attorney, not this page. Nothing here is a guarantee of any outcome. See our Terms of Use. Think something has changed? Use the contact form or call (612) 250-6132.