Card surcharge
A fee a merchant adds to a credit card payment to recover its processing cost. Under Visa's U.S. rules it applies to credit cards only, is capped at the merchant's discount rate or 3 percent, whichever is lower, and must be disclosed before the sale and on the receipt. Some states restrict or ban it.
Visa's own Q&A for U.S. merchants (version 02152024) sets the rules in four lines. Notify the acquirer "at least 30 days prior to commencing surcharging". "Limit surcharging to credit cards only (debit cards and prepaid cards cannot be surcharged)". Limit the amount to the merchant discount rate for the card "or 3% whichever is lowest". Disclose the surcharge "at the point of entry, the point of sale or transaction, and on every receipt", as a separate line on the receipt.
Surcharge = the lesser of (amount × the shop's merchant discount rate) and (amount × 3%), on credit cards only
A debit card run as credit is still a debit card under Visa's rules: the choice on the terminal only picks a signature or a PIN, so a surcharge that was allowed on the card before it is not allowed on this one. Visa's answer to that question is "No. The cardholder is still using a Visa debit card."
The alternative is a cash discount, a lower price for paying by a method other than the card, which Visa treats differently from a surcharge and which has its own display rules. State law is on top of all of this: some states ban or restrict surcharges, and the rules pages hold the ones that have been read.
The post on text-to-pay at the counter walks through the rule and the states; the surcharge calculator works the cap for a given amount. In Wrenchy surcharging is a per-shop setting, off by default; when it's on, a pay link shows the fee before the pay button and the surcharge is its own line on the receipt.
Sources (1)
- U.S. Merchant Surcharge Q and A · Visa · read November 4, 2026