What are the rules and regulations for surcharging?

If you choose to implement a surcharge on credit card transactions, follow the guidelines below to remain compliant with card brand and state regulations:

• Pricing display: for merchants located in all states except California and New York the cash price must be posted on shelves without any markup, and can be labeled as ‘standard prices’, ‘the prices’, or ‘amounts’; for merchants located in California and New York, the total price must be posted including the surcharge on shelves, and can be labeled as ‘total prices’, ‘price with surcharge’, or ‘max price’.
• Surcharge implementation: you must provide at least 30 days’ advance notification to both Paysafe and MasterCard before beginning to surcharge customers.
• Surcharge disclosure: you must display surcharge disclosure signage at both the point of entry and point of sale.  
• Surcharging restrictions by state: surcharging is prohibited in Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts; there are specific restrictions in California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Oklahoma that must be followed.
• Transaction messaging: the surcharge amount must be clearly itemized in the transaction message and on receipts.
• Surcharge limits: the surcharge should never exceed your highest cost of acceptance, capped at 3% per transaction.
• Debit cards: debit card transactions cannot be surcharged.