Dual Pricing Compliance Checklist

Dual pricing is two posted prices for the same item, a cash price and a card price, shown before the customer chooses a tender. Nothing is added at the PIN pad. Cash and check pay the cash price. Credit, debit, and prepaid pay the posted card price. Visa's U.S. Merchant Surcharge Q and A (February 15, 2024) lets you run that as a discount offer if you display the card price on every item, or both prices side by side, and if the cardholder's final total equals those posted card prices. A program that advertises a lower sticker and then adds a card fee, "cash discount," or "non-cash adjustment" at the register is a surcharge. It inherits Visa's credit-only rule, the 3 percent cap, the 30-day acquirer notice, and any state ban.

This is a checklist, not legal advice. Confirm the current text with your acquirer and counsel.

1. 1
   Post two prices before tender. Cash price and card price on the item, menu, shelf, and web page. A door sign is not enough.
2. 2
   Keep the card total from going up. The PIN pad must not add a fee. The card receipt must equal the posted card prices.
3. 3
   Treat debit as a card, not as cash. Credit, debit, and prepaid pay the card price. Cash and check pay the cash price.
4. 4
   Match receipts and labels. No positive non-cash adjustment on a card sale. Do not call the spread a surcharge or a convenience fee.
5. 5
   Confirm the outlet's law. A surcharge ban is not automatically a dual-pricing ban. Check the attorney general and brand rules for each location.

Two prices, not a fee

The surcharge vs dual pricing vs cash discount post is the three-way map. This page is the dual-price rule set.

A surcharge adds a line to a credit sale. A cash discount posts one regular (card-inclusive) price and subtracts for cash. Dual pricing posts both numbers on the item. Federal law defines a discount as a reduction from the price customers are told is the regular price, and it excludes any means of increasing that price (15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2(c)(4), text in effect August 23, 2026). Brands and state agencies look at those mechanics, not the name on the window.

The cash-discount program rules cover the one-price-then-subtract shape. Dual pricing is the side-by-side display of the same idea. Visa's Q and A lists "both the card and the cash price listed side-by-side per item" as one of two compliant displays. It is still a discount only if the cardholder's total equals those card prices.

Post both prices on the item

Visa's display test is item-level: only the card price per item, or both prices side by side. A door sign does not rescue a menu that still lists one number. Shelf tags, menus, invoices, websites, and the register have to show the same pair.

Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection (cash-discount FAQ dated August 28, 2024) wants both the cash and credit prices wherever goods are listed, or a highly visible dollar amount or percentage at the point of sale. Online, that notice belongs in every pricing section and at checkout, not only on the homepage. Maine's Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection lets you show both the listed (card) price and the discounted cash price, but the listed price must be at least as noticeable as the cash price, labeled "Cash" or "Cash Discount."

If the customer first sees the spread when the PIN pad asks for a card, you do not have dual pricing. You have a surprise fee.

Debit is the failure that recharacterizes the program

This is the line most dual-price programs miss.

Credit, debit, and prepaid pay the card price. Cash and check pay the cash price. A debit card run as "credit" on the terminal is still a debit card. Visa's Q and A is explicit on that prompt: it is signature versus PIN, not a license to treat debit as cash.

If the POS charges debit the cash price and credit the card price, you have stopped running two posted prices for cash versus card. You are charging extra for credit. That is the surcharge shape: a price increase for using a credit card. Visa forbids a U.S. surcharge on debit and prepaid, and it caps a credit surcharge at the lower of your merchant discount rate or 3 percent, with 30-day acquirer notice. The acquirer of a merchant identified as surcharging improperly may be assessed an immediate $1,000 fine (same Q and A). A dual-price sign does not skip that rule set if the register is adding a fee only on credit.

Durbin still lets you offer a discount for debit as a form of payment, so long as it does not favor one issuer or one payment card network, and so long as it is disclosed when law requires it (15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2(b)(2), text in effect August 23, 2026). That is a debit discount, not dual pricing. You cannot run "this brand of debit is 2 percent off, that brand is 1 percent." Card issuers also cannot, by contract, prohibit a cash, check, or similar discount (15 U.S.C. § 1666f(a)).

Maine's statute is the debit reminder in statute form: a seller may not impose a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card or a debit card (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 9-A, § 8-509, page data extracted October 20, 2025). The listed price in Maine is the price for credit or debit. Treating debit as cash there is not a dual-price program.

If the POS cannot tell cash from card, and cannot tell debit from credit, you cannot run this checklist. Stop until it can.

Receipts have to match the shelf

The card receipt is the audit. Visa's Q and A: when the cardholder is presented with the final bill, the total paid on a card must be the sum of the displayed item prices, "not achieved by applying an additional fee for a card payment." If it looks like a surcharge, Visa may treat it as one.

Worked numbers below are illustrative. They are not a recommended spread and not a Relyon rate.

Posted on the tag: Cash $20.00 / Card $20.60.

• Card sale: receipt total $20.60. No add-on line. That is the posted card price.
• Cash sale: receipt total $20.00. If you also print the card price, the cash line is a reduction, not a fee.

The same goods, run as a fake dual price: shelf still says $20.00, then $20.00 plus $0.60 "card adjustment" = $20.60. The card customer paid more than the number they were shown. That is a price increase, which 15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2(c)(4) says is not a discount. Connecticut DCP names "transaction fee," "processing fee," and "non-cash adjustment" on the card receipt as surcharge tells.

Do not label the spread a surcharge, a convenience fee, or a cash discount that is added rather than subtracted. The label has to match the math.

A surcharge ban is not a dual-pricing ban

Start with the 2026 state surcharge sequence. Then confirm you are posting two prices, not adding a fee.

Connecticut. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-133ff, as the Department of Consumer Protection restates it after Public Act 24-142, prohibits a surcharge and allows a cash discount. Dual pricing, listing a cash price and a credit card price, is the other compliant shape DCP names. Gas-station two-price posting is the example DCP uses.

Massachusetts. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140D, § 28A: no seller may impose a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card in lieu of cash, check, or similar means. The same section protects a discount from the regular price offered to all prospective buyers and disclosed clearly and conspicuously.

Maine. A discount or reduction from the regular price is not a surcharge. Showing both prices is allowed when the listed (card) price is at least as noticeable as the cash price.

Visa's February 15, 2024 Q and A also lists Puerto Rico as a surcharge prohibition. Confirm the Commonwealth statute with local counsel. This is not a 50-state dual-pricing table. Check the attorney general for every outlet.

Where programs fail

• The menu was never dual-priced. Door sign says two prices. Shelf still shows one number. Card payers get a fee to reach the real total.
• Debit is treated as cash. Credit pays more. That is a surcharge on credit, and debit still cannot be surcharged.
• The receipt adds a positive line on the card sale. The shelf can say anything. The ticket is what Visa and the state see.
• Online checkout does not match the store. A homepage banner is not enough if the product page still shows one price.
• You enrolled in a surcharge program and labeled it dual pricing. The acquirer file, Field 28, and the receipt line will tell on you. Match the program you registered.

If the POS cannot post two prices and print a card total that already equals the card column, you do not have a dual-price program. Stop, or build the display correctly before you go live. Dual pricing does not cut interchange. It changes who pays the card-inclusive price, and only if the customer saw both numbers first.

FAQ

What is dual pricing for credit cards? Dual pricing posts a cash price and a card price for the same item before the customer pays. Cash and check pay the cash price. Credit, debit, and prepaid pay the posted card price. No fee is added at the PIN pad.

Is dual pricing the same as a surcharge? No. A surcharge is a fee added to a credit sale. Dual pricing is two posted prices. Visa's U.S. Merchant Surcharge Q and A (February 15, 2024) treats a two-price program that reaches the card total by adding a fee as a surcharge, with the credit-only rule, the 3 percent cap, and 30-day acquirer notice attached.

Can I charge debit the cash price and credit the card price? Not if you want a dual-price program. Credit, debit, and prepaid pay the card price. A debit card run as credit is still debit. Charging only credit more after a lower sticker is the surcharge shape. If you also discount debit as a card type, 15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2 says that discount cannot favor one issuer or one payment card network.

Do I have to notify my acquirer 30 days before starting dual pricing? Visa's 30-day acquirer notice is a surcharge rule, not a two-price posting rule. If the program is two posted prices and the card total does not go up, that notice does not apply. If the register adds a fee, you are in the surcharge program whether or not the shelf tag shows two numbers, and the 30-day clock does apply.

Is dual pricing legal in a state that bans surcharging? Often yes, if both prices are posted and no fee is added. Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection names dual pricing as a compliant shape. Massachusetts and Maine protect a disclosed discount from the regular price. Confirm the current statute for each outlet. This is not legal advice.

What has to be on the sign and the receipt? Visa requires the card price per item, or both prices side by side per item. The card receipt must equal those posted card prices with no add-on. Cash receipts show the cash price. A positive non-cash adjustment on a card sale is the surcharge tell.

Sources

• Visa, U.S. Merchant Surcharge Q and A, version 02152024 (February 15, 2024).
• Visa, merchant credit surcharging (30-day acquirer notice), accessed August 2026.
• 15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2 (Durbin Amendment discount clause and definition of discount), House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, text in effect August 23, 2026.
• 15 U.S.C. § 1666f, House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, text in effect August 23, 2026.
• Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, Credit Card Surcharge, accessed August 2026.
• Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, What are the requirements with respect to cash discounts?, August 28, 2024.
• Massachusetts General Laws ch. 140D, § 28A.
• Maine Revised Statutes tit. 9-A, § 8-509, page data extracted October 20, 2025.
• Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, Credit and Debit Card Surcharges, accessed August 2026.