Is dual pricing legal? Yes, in all 50 states.
Posting a card price with a lower cash price is legal in every state, and federal law protects cash discounts. Surcharging is a different practice with different rules: it's banned in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico, and restricted in several other states. The two places to be careful about two-price setups are Louisiana and Puerto Rico.
The short answer, in three lines.
- Dual pricing: legal in all 50 states and D.C. How you post prices still matters, and a few states have specific advertising rules.
- Surcharging: banned in CT, ME, MA and PR; restricted in California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma; never allowed on debit or prepaid cards anywhere.
- Be careful in: Louisiana, where an August 2026 debit law has no express exception for cash discounts, and Puerto Rico, which restricts cash discounting itself.
FeeSlicers sets up dual pricing only, through Edge, North's dual-price program. We explain surcharge law here because merchants ask about it and the two are easy to confuse — not because we offer it.
The federal picture.
No federal surcharge ban. The old Truth in Lending Act ban on surcharges expired in 1984.
The Cash Discount Act (TILA §1666f) protects cash discounting nationwide. This is the federal footing for a program that posts a card price and discounts for cash.
The Durbin Amendment bars surcharging debit and prepaid cards. A court decision vacating Regulation II's debit interchange cap is stayed while the Federal Reserve appeals, and it doesn't touch the bar on debit surcharges.
The interchange settlement. The November 2025 interchange settlement received preliminary approval on June 9, 2026. It is not final, objections are pending, and the surcharge rights it describes are not in effect.
What the card brands require.
Card-brand rules apply in every state, on top of state law.
For a cash discount (dual pricing) program
- The card price is posted. The cash price is a discount from it, never posted alone.
- Signage at the point of sale tells customers items have a cash and a non-cash price.
- The receipt shows the price the customer paid, with no separate line for the difference.
- Debit is a debit card however it's run, and it gets the card price.
A setup that gets these wrong — wrong signs, a cash price alone, the difference printed as an extra line — is treated as surcharging. Visa fines for non-compliant setups run $1,000 to $25,000 per violation, and they're passed to the merchant.
For surcharging (education only)
- Credit cards only. Never debit or prepaid.
- Capped at the lesser of 3% or the merchant's cost of acceptance under Visa's rule. Mastercard's ceiling is 4%, but Visa's 3% is the practical cap.
- 30 days' written notice to the acquirer before starting.
- Notice at store entry and the point of sale, and the surcharge itemized on the receipt.
State law can add to these or ban surcharging outright. We don't set up surcharge programs.
The state picture.
Surcharge status first, then the dual-pricing notes that matter most.
| Status | Where |
|---|---|
| Surcharging banned | Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico |
| Surcharging restricted (caps, disclosure or all-in pricing rules) | California, Colorado (2% cap), Georgia, Louisiana (no debit surcharges), Minnesota (5% cap), New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma (2% cap) |
| Ban still on the books but struck down or enjoined | Florida, Texas |
| Surcharging legal under card-brand rules | The remaining states and D.C., some with their own notice rules |
| Dual pricing legal | All 50 states and D.C. Louisiana: review before launch. |
| Dual pricing restricted | Puerto Rico only. FeeSlicers does not set up programs there. |
State rules that change how you post two prices.
Most states say nothing specific about dual pricing. These do, or come close:
- California: SB478 requires the advertised price to include every mandatory charge. Post the card price as the regular price; never advertise the cash price alone.
- Colorado: HB25-1090, in effect since January 1, 2026, requires advertised prices to include mandatory charges. Advertise the card price, with cash as the discount.
- Connecticut and Massachusetts: the regular price displayed is the card price, and cash is discounted from it. That is how a two-price posting works.
- Florida: the same statute that held the surcharge ban expressly allows cash discounts. Food-service businesses should also read § 509.214, effective July 1, 2026: it's written for surcharges and added charges, so if anything on a menu, app or bill could read as an added charge, follow its disclosure rules.
- Illinois: from January 1, 2027, HB228 bars advertising a price that leaves out mandatory charges. Advertise the card price.
- New York: the total card price must be posted clearly before payment, and online before checkout. A cash price alone doesn't satisfy it.
- Texas: state law expressly says a cash discount is not a surcharge.
- Wyoming: cash discounts are capped at 5%. A price difference of about 4% sits inside that cap.
- Louisiana: the August 2026 debit-surcharge law has no express exception for cash discounts, and no guidance yet addresses two-price postings. Talk to us before launching.
- Puerto Rico: cash discounting is restricted as well as surcharging, after the cash-discount safe harbor was repealed in 2013. We don't set up programs there.
States with their own page.
Each page covers the statute, enforcement, surcharge and dual-pricing status, and what to post. Every other state is in the full 50-state guide.
Laws move. See what changed recently, dated, in our change log.
The mistakes that turn a cash discount into a surcharge.
- Posting the cash price alone and charging card customers more at the register. That's a surcharge, whatever the sign says.
- Printing the difference as its own receipt line. The receipt should show the price the customer paid.
- Missing or wrong signage at the point of sale.
- Treating debit as cash. Debit is a card and gets the card price; surcharging debit is barred by federal law and card-brand rules.
This is why George reviews your price list, signs and terminal setup against your state's rules before you go live.
This is education, not legal advice. It reflects our reading of federal law, card-brand rules and the state sources in our guide as of October 15, 2026. FeeSlicers is not a law firm. Laws and their interpretation change, so for a question about your specific situation, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.
Know what your state requires before you post a price.
George will show you your state's rules on the first call and set up your signs and terminal to match.
Two minutes to start. No obligation. George takes it from there.