Can a Gun Store Charge a Credit Card Fee? Surcharge vs. Cash Discount

There are three ways to pass card costs to customers. They sound alike, but the card networks treat them very differently.

• Surcharge: a fee added at checkout when a customer pays with a credit card. Your posted price is the cash price.
• Cash discount: your posted price is the card price, and customers who pay cash (or check) get a discount off it.
• Dual pricing: a form of cash discount where every price tag, shelf label and listing shows both the card price and the cash price side by side.

These are the rules in effect as of September 2026. American Express and Discover have their own surcharge rules; your processor can confirm them.

In practice, most stores that surcharge both brands use 3% or less, so one sign and one number cover every credit card.

The four requirements

1. Never more than your cost. The surcharge can't exceed what you actually pay to accept the card. If your cost on a card is 2.6%, 2.6% is your ceiling, even though Visa allows 3%.
2. Notify your processor 30 days ahead. Both networks require at least 30 days' written notice to your processor (acquirer) before you start. Mastercard also asks merchants to register with Mastercard directly through its online form.
3. Disclose it three times. Visa requires notice at the point of entry (your front door or the top of your website checkout), at the point of sale (your counter or payment page), and on every receipt as a separate line.
4. Surcharge consistently. You can surcharge at the "brand level" (all Visa credit cards) or the "product level" (for example, only Visa Signature rewards cards), but not both.

Visa says it enforces these rules with consumer complaints and mystery shopping, and a processor whose merchant surcharges improperly can be fined, which usually gets passed down to the merchant.

You may have heard that merchants can now refuse rewards cards or surcharge more freely. Not yet. Here's the status as of September 25, 2026.

What would change after final approval. The rule changes are due within 90 days after the court's final approval:

• Decline premium and commercial cards. You could choose to accept or refuse whole categories of credit cards: standard consumer, premium consumer (high-end rewards cards) and commercial (business) cards. Debit acceptance would be a separate choice.
• Surcharge more freely. You could surcharge Visa or Mastercard credit cards up to 3% (still capped at your cost) even if you don't surcharge other brands such as American Express. Older rules tied your surcharge to how you treat competing cards.
• Lower card costs. A 0.10 percentage-point cut to average credit interchange for five years, and standard consumer credit card rates capped at 1.25%.

The 30-day processor notice for surcharging stays in the settlement terms, and declining a card category would also need 30 days' notice. We'll update this page when the court rules.

Check your state first. Card-network rules never override state law. If your state bans surcharges, a cash discount or dual pricing is your only option for passing on card costs.

List current as of September 25, 2026. Other states have disclosure or "total price" rules too, and these laws change often. Confirm with your state attorney general's office or an attorney before you start.

Firearm dealers already deal with state-by-state card rules, such as how the firearm merchant code MCC 5723 is handled. Our payment compliance guide for firearm dealers covers those.

You can never surcharge a debit or prepaid card. That includes a debit card run as "credit" or with a signature instead of a PIN. It's still a debit card. Your terminal or gateway has to detect the card type and skip the fee automatically. Don't rely on staff asking "credit or debit?"

Credit card fees at gun shows

• The show's state decides. Rules follow where the sale happens. A Texas store working a show in Connecticut can't surcharge there.
• Signs at the booth. Your table is your "point of entry" and "point of sale." Put the notice where customers see it before they pick up a gun, and again at the register.
• Use a terminal that knows the card type. A mobile reader that can't tell credit from debit will surcharge debit cards. Test it before the show.
• Receipts every time. Printed or emailed, the fee must appear as its own line.
• Price tags for dual pricing. If you run dual pricing, every tag at the show needs both prices, not just the ones at your store.
• Refunds. Decide and post how you'll handle the fee if a transfer is denied or a sale is cancelled. Unclear refund terms lead to disputes; see our guide to preventing chargebacks at gun stores.

A surcharge moves your card cost to your customer. It doesn't make the cost smaller. And it has a price of its own:

• Customers notice. A fee on a $1,200 pistol is $36 at 3%. Regulars may shop the store down the road or wait for the next show.
• Debit gets nothing. Debit cards can't be surcharged, so you still absorb that cost.
• Your cap is your cost. The surcharge can't exceed what you pay to accept the card. Lower your rate and your allowable surcharge drops with it.
• More rules to follow. Signs, receipts, state law and processor notice are all ongoing work.

If your effective rate is high because you're priced as a generic high-risk account, fixing the rate is often the better first move. Our guide to gun store rates, fees and reserves shows how to calculate your effective rate from your statement in 30 seconds. Some stores do both: a fair rate on a firearm merchant account first, then a cash discount if card costs still hurt.

Whichever you choose, tell your processor before you start.