Credit card surcharge laws in Texas (2026)
Allowed with state conditions
Texas still has an anti-surcharge statute on the books, but a federal court held it unconstitutional as applied to merchants who surcharge no more than their actual card cost with clear disclosure, so surcharge credit cards only at or below your processing cost, disclose the exact percentage prominently, never surcharge debit or prepaid cards, and know the Attorney General has not disclaimed enforcement generally.
The details
| Cap | None in statute; practical ceiling from Rowell v. Paxton is the merchant's actual cost of acceptance (plus network caps). Surcharging above cost is outside the court's holding and exposed to a $500-per-violation civil penalty after a 30-day cure notice (§ 604A.003). |
|---|---|
| Disclosure | No statutory format. The Rowell plaintiffs committed to 'prominently and conspicuously display the exact amount of the surcharge, expressed as a percentage of the total price'; follow that. Cash discounts expressly excluded from 'surcharge' (§ 604A.001(5)). No Texas total-price advertising statute specific to card surcharges found. |
| Debit and prepaid | Prohibited: § 604A.002 bars surcharges on debit and stored-value (prepaid) cards; not challenged in Rowell and fully enforceable. |
| Statute | Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 604A.001-.003 (credit: § 604A.0021; debit/stored value: § 604A.002; penalty: § 604A.003) |
| Court decision | Rowell v. Paxton, 336 F. Supp. 3d 724 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 16, 2018), No. 1:14-cv-00190-LY: § 604A.0021 unconstitutional as applied; AG permanently enjoined from enforcing it against the five named plaintiffs. Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. KP-0257 (June 14, 2019): the statute 'remains enforceable in some contexts.' |
| Last change | 2017-09-01 (S.B. 560 moved the ban from Fin. Code § 339.001 to § 604A.0021); injunction 2018-08-16; AG opinion 2019-06-14; no statutory change since |
| Source check | Verified on the official site |
| Checked | Oct 7, 2026 |
How this entry was checked
Statutes site current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd Called Session (2025). Final judgment: storage.courtlistener.com ; AG opinion: www2.texasattorneygeneral.gov . Exemptions: government entities and private schools (§ 604A.0021(b)). No reported enforcement against an at-cost, disclosed surcharge since 2018 found (absence of evidence). Section last reviewed 2026-10-06.
What this means for each program in Texas
| 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 Texas specifically. |
|---|---|
| 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; the statute does not use the term): 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
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 604A.001-.003 (credit: § 604A.0021; debit/stored value: § 604A.002; penalty: § 604A.003)
- Rowell v. Paxton, 336 F. Supp. 3d 724 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 16, 2018), No. 1:14-cv-00190-LY: § 604A.0021 unconstitutional as applied; AG permanently enjoined from enforcing it against the five named plaintiffs. Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. KP-0257 (June 14, 2019): the statute 'remains enforceable in some contexts.'
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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.