One of the most frequent questions we get is “Is cash discount legal?” 100% yes, our credit card cash discount program is legal, utilizing a cash discount at the point of sale is completely legal in all 50 states. A cash discount can easily be confused with a credit card fee or surcharge, which is legal in only 40 of the 50 United States. (Surcharging is illegal in Texas, Oklahoma, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Kansas, Florida, Connecticut, Colorado and California.)

Yes, it is legal to pass credit card fees to customers. It is legal and compliant to pass fees on using surcharge fees and cash discount programs. Surcharge fees are legal in 40 states while cash discount programs are legal in all 50 states.

While it’s legal to pass credit card fees to customers, we may be asking the wrong question. The legality of passing fees to customers is covered by the Durbin Amendment as a part of the Dodd-Frank Law (financial reform act.)

What should be asked though is if the card brand will allow passing merchant service fees and processing costs to the customer. Before setting up a program for your business, it’s vital that you read the rules of acceptance with the major credit card providers.

A cash discount program and a surcharge program are both payment systems that businesses use to recoup the merchant services fees that are charged each time a customer presents a credit card as a form of payment. A surcharge program adds on an additional fee at checkout to cover the merchant services fees. A true cash discount program gives the customer a discount for cash payment by avoiding any additional costs.

In many establishments that offer a cash discount program, the regular price or posted prices on each item are prices for credit card payment. Any payment card method other than cash keeps the price of goods the same to cover credit card processing costs, but using cash will reduce the cost by up to 4%. With our cash discount credit card processing, your customers will love you. When it comes to offering a credit card surcharge vs cash discount, which will your customer appreciate more? No one likes to feel nickeled and dimed with added fees (isn’t that why you’re here?), but everyone loves a discount.

No, surcharge fees are not able to be applied to debit cards or other forms of prepaid cards, like gift cards. Surcharge fees are directed towards credit card purchases, not cash purchases, as a merchant savings from credit card fees. Debit card transactions are not charged the same fees and have a different fee structure from credit cards or gift cards. Debit cards are charged a flat fee when presented as a means of payment.

The prohibition on debit cards is nationwide while customers who pay using American Express, Discover, Visa and Mastercard can be subject to additional fees in certain states. Visa Mastercard and others within the payment card networks are able to have a surcharge added to their final total, but not debit cards.

Surcharge program fees are often referred to as customer service fees as they are associated with fixed costs.

The average fees for credit card processing fall in the 2-4% range for most businesses. Each merchant account has a set credit card transaction rate it charges qualified cards, mid-qualified cards and non-qualified cards. The rate differs in most cases on each credit card transaction. Actual payment processing fees and monthly fees are determined by the card types, and any merchant fees are added on top of the actual cost to process a credit payment.

A merchant’s card volume and average ticket are taken into consideration by the merchant services provider to determine the fees that will be assessed to accept credit cards. Higher card volume and a low average ticket would be given a different rate percentage and swipe fee than those with low card volume and a higher average ticket.

Mobile payments and online payments through a virtual terminal also have a different fee structure depending on whether the card is present or absent during the transaction. The rate a business is charged is based on risk, but usually averages out to be between 2-4% of the transaction value.