Are you paying extra for using a debit card in NC? Or skipping a ‘cash discount’?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The law prohibits merchants from adding a surcharge to debit card payments.
- Mastercard and Visa also prohibit merchants from applying debit card surcharges.
- But merchants may offer discounts for paying with cash.
If you’re shopping or eating out in the Triangle, you’re likely going to see an extra fee on your receipt if you’re paying with a credit card.
If you’re using a debit card, you won’t — or you shouldn’t — see a surcharge, even though merchants are still paying processing fees, just as they do when they accept credit cards.
It’s against the law for merchants to add a surcharge to payments made with debit cards, said Andy Ellen, president and general counsel for the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association. Even if you pay with a debit card and select “credit” on the point of sale terminal, you shouldn’t be charged an extra fee.
Also, companies including Mastercard and Visa prohibit merchants from applying a surcharge on debit cards.
But in some transactions, you might pay more if you use a debit card than you would if using cash.
A good example of this is when you’re buying gas. Gas stations usually charge different prices depending on whether you’re paying with a card or with cash. If you pay with a credit or debit card, you’re probably spending a few cents more per gallon than if you pay with cash.
But in that case, the merchant is offering a cash discount, and it’s totally legal.
“They haven’t surcharged you,” Ellen said. “They’ve just given you a discount off of what the credit or debit price was.”
Now, let’s say you go to a restaurant, and your meal costs $10. The restaurant can’t then charge you, say, an extra 3% if you pay with a debit card. But it can charge you an extra 3% if you pay with a credit card. That’s a surcharge.
