Credit card surcharge laws in Minnesota (2026)
Allowed with state conditions
You can surcharge credit and charge cards in Minnesota up to 5% if you tell the customer orally and by posted sign in person, by a conspicuous checkout notice online or in-app, and orally by phone; and if you do not accept cash, the surcharge is not avoidable and must be folded into the advertised price under the 2025 price-transparency law.
The details
| Cap | 5% of the purchase price (Minn. Stat. 325G.051 subd. 1(a)(4)); network caps are lower and still apply. |
|---|---|
| Disclosure | In person: oral notice at time of sale AND a sign conspicuously posted on the premises. Website/mobile: conspicuous surcharge notice during the sale, at the point of sale, on the order summary, or on the checkout page. Telephone: oral notice. Separately, Minn. Stat. 325D.44 subd. 1a (eff. 2025-01-01) makes it a deceptive practice to advertise, display, or offer a price that does not include all mandatory fees or surcharges; AG FAQ: a surcharge a customer can reasonably avoid by paying cash is not a mandatory fee. |
| Debit and prepaid | Statute covers 'credit or charge card' only; debit and prepaid not mentioned. AG FAQ treats an avoidable debit surcharge as outside the price-transparency law but warns representations about debit costs must be accurate. Network rules bar debit/prepaid surcharges. |
| Statute | Minn. Stat. 325G.051; Minn. Stat. 325D.44 subd. 1a-1b (total price) |
| Last change | 325G.051 last amended by 2023 Minn. Laws ch. 57 art. 4 s. 19 (eff. 2023-08-01: added web/mobile and phone notice clauses; 5% cap and in-person rule pre-date it). 325D.44 subd. 1a added by 2024 Minn. Laws ch. 111, eff. 2025-01-01; 2025 Minn. Laws ch. 20 s. 247 (signed 2025-05-15) made a technical citation fix to paragraph (j) only. |
| Source check | Verified on the official site |
| Checked | Oct 7, 2026 |
How this entry was checked
Statute text re-read on revisor.mn.gov 2026-10-07; history line ends at 2023 c 57 art 4 s 19, so the commonly cited 'amended effective January 1, 2025' is wrong -- that date belongs to the price-transparency law, which is 325D.44 subd. 1a, not 325F.69. Cash discounts are excluded from 'surcharge' if offered to all prospective customers and clearly and conspicuously disclosed (subd. 1(c)); a merchant may not surcharge its own store card (subd. 1(b)); the rules bind the seller's agents (subd. 1(d)). Penalty: civil penalty up to $500 plus refund of the surcharge to each buyer; 325D.44 violations carry AG civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation per the AG FAQ. No appellate decision construing 325G.051 located. Total-price URL: revisor.mn.gov ; AG FAQ: ag.state.mn.us
What this means for each program in Minnesota
| Surcharging | Allowed, but only if you meet the state conditions above on top of the card-network rules. Equipment and signage have to be set up for Minnesota specifically. |
|---|---|
| Cash discounting | Permitted. The posted price is the card price and cash pays less. Minnesota law speaks to discounts; see the Disclosure row above and the statute before setting the program. |
| Dual pricing | Treated like a cash discount in practice (our reading; the statute does not use the term), so Minnesota's discount rules apply: the card price shown first with the cash price beside it, and cash pays the cash price. Check the statute for which payment types must get the lower 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
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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.