Surcharge or cash discount: which one actually fits your shop

If you are tired of paying card fees yourself, you have two honest routes. A surcharge adds a line when someone pays by credit card. A cash discount makes the card price the normal price and gives cash payers a small break. Same goal, different feel at the counter.

How to choose

• A surcharge is cleaner to explain and shows the fee plainly, but it has rules: disclose it before the sale, show it on the receipt, keep it at or below the real card cost, and never apply it to debit.
• A cash discount is simpler to run and sidesteps most surcharge restrictions, since you are lowering a price, not adding a fee.
• Your state can make the decision for you. A few states limit or complicate surcharging, and the rules shifted in 2025 and 2026, so older write-ups are often wrong.

Whichever you pick, the surcharge should pass on the real card cost, not pad a processor margin under the cover of fees.

We set up either one, size it to your actual card cost, and keep your state rules straight. Check your state on the rules page, then we can talk through which fits your floor.