Yes, you can add a credit card surcharge in New York. But the sign most restaurants put up for it is the violation. Since February 11, 2024, New York General Business Law §518 has required any business that surcharges credit cards to post the total credit card price, surcharge included, before the customer pays. The surcharge can't be more than what your card processor actually charges you. A note saying "3% fee on all credit cards" doesn't meet that rule, and neither does a fee that only shows up as a separate line on the receipt.
That's the counterintuitive part. Most surcharge advice is about the size of the fee. In New York, the law cares mostly about where the price is posted.
What does New York's credit card surcharge law say?
The current rule comes from Chapter 723 of the Laws of 2023 (Assembly Bill A2672-B), signed December 13, 2023. It amended GBL §518 and took effect 60 days later, on February 11, 2024. Here's what the statute and the state's own announcement say:
Rule | What it means at your counter |
|---|---|
Post the total card price | If you surcharge credit cards, you have to "clearly and conspicuously post the total price" for paying by credit card, including the surcharge. |
Cap at your cost | The surcharge can't be more than the amount the credit card company charges you for that transaction. |
No surprises at checkout | The final price can't be higher than the price you posted. |
Two-tier pricing is allowed | You can post the credit card price next to the cash price. |
Credit only | The state says the law doesn't apply to debit cards. That doesn't mean you can surcharge debit. More on that below. |
Penalty | A civil penalty of up to $500 for each violation. The old version made it a misdemeanor. |
Who enforces it | The New York Attorney General and local governments, including municipal consumer affairs offices. Customers can complain to the Department of State's Division of Consumer Protection and ask for a refund of the excess fee. |
The older version of §518 went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017 (Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman). The 2023 amendment settled the practical question: surcharging is legal in New York as long as the customer sees the card price before paying.
What's allowed and what isn't?
When the law took effect, the state published plain examples. Here they are as a table, because this is the part people get wrong.
Compliant | Not compliant |
|---|---|
Listing the higher credit card price next to a lower cash price | A sign that says "an additional 3.9 percent surcharge will apply for credit card purchases" |
Changing all your prices to the credit card price | A price tag that reads "$10.00, + 4 percent if paying with a credit card" |
Posting the card price and giving a discount off it to cash payers | Posting the cash price and telling card payers they "will not receive the cash discount" |
— | Adding a fee only for credit card users as a separate line on the receipt |
Notice what the "not compliant" column has in common. Every example makes the customer do the math. New York wants a posted dollar figure the guest can read without a calculator.
The third row on the left is my read, not a line from the state's examples: if the posted price is the card price and cash payers get less, the final price never exceeds the posted price, which is what the statute asks. Plenty of operators call that a cash discount. The name doesn't matter. What matters is which price is on the menu.
How do you put a credit card price on a restaurant menu?
This is where the law meets a menu board. You have three practical options.
One price, the card price. Raise every menu price to cover card costs and stop surcharging. No second column, no sign, no receipt line. This is the simplest way to comply, because nothing is a surcharge anymore.
Two columns. Cash and card, side by side, on every item: the menu board, the printed menu, the online ordering page. It's compliant. It also doubles the numbers a guest has to read at a busy window.
Card price posted, cash discount at the register. One column, the card price. Cash payers get a lower total. It's cleaner to read than two columns, but your staff has to apply it every time.
Whatever you pick, the price on the menu and the price on the screen have to match. If the online menu shows the cash price and the card total is higher at checkout, that's the "final price higher than the posted price" problem. My read is that the posting rule applies wherever the customer sees prices before paying, so treat your online menu like your menu board.
How big can a New York surcharge be?
No bigger than your actual cost. Unlike Colorado's flat 2%, New York sets no percentage. The cap is whatever the card company charges you. On top of that, card network rules apply through your merchant agreement, and Visa caps credit surcharges at 3%. Plan around the stricter of the two.
Menu pricing has a catch here. Most card fees have a percentage part and a fixed part per transaction. Your menu is priced per item. Your fee is charged per order. If you bake the fixed part into every item, a big order can end up charging more than your cost.
Here's the math at an example rate of 2.9% + 30¢. That isn't anyone's quote. Plug in your own.
Order | Card markup per item | Extra the guest pays | Your actual card cost | Over the cap? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
One $10 item | +59¢ (cost of a $10 sale) | $0.59 | about $0.61 | No |
Three $10 items | +59¢ each | $1.77 | about $1.22 | Yes, by about 55¢ |
One $10 item | +3% (30¢) | $0.30 | about $0.60 | No |
Three $10 items | +3% (30¢ each) | $0.90 | about $1.20 | No |
The safe way to set a card price per item is a percentage at or below your percentage rate, rounded down, never up. You'll recover less than your full fee on small orders. That's the honest trade. A surcharge that covers 100% of your card cost on every ticket is very hard to build without going over on some of them.
If you're on interchange-plus pricing, where your cost changes by card type and you only see it on the monthly statement, be more careful still. You can't know the exact cost of a rewards card at the register. Price the card markup below your cheapest realistic rate, or don't surcharge.
Can you surcharge debit cards in New York?
No, but not because of §518. The state says the law doesn't apply to debit cards. Card network rules are what stop you: you can't surcharge debit, even when the customer runs it as credit.
That's the trap with a two-column menu. If your POS adds the card price to every tap, debit cards pay the higher price too. Run a test sale with your own debit card and read the receipt. If the debit total matches the credit total, your setup is surcharging debit.
Is a surcharge worth it in New York?
For a lot of counters and trucks, honestly, no. Between the posting rule, the per-order math and the debit problem, the cleanest compliant answer is usually one price on the menu, set high enough to cover what cards cost you. That's what I tell owners when they ask me across the table. You keep the money, the guest sees one number, and nobody has to explain a sign.
If you're full-service with big tickets, a mostly-credit crowd and a processor that will calculate the cap for you, two-tier pricing can make sense. Do it on purpose, on every menu, online and off.
I compared the two models in dual pricing vs. a cash discount, and I wrote up how surcharge rules stack across states and card networks.
A checklist before you add a surcharge in New York
Read your merchant agreement for a surcharging clause, and tell your processor before you start.
Find your real per-transaction cost. If you can't, don't surcharge.
Pick one: a single card price, two columns, or card price with a cash discount.
Put the card price on every menu the guest sees before paying: board, printed menu, online ordering, third-party listings you control.
Take down any "X% fee for credit cards" sign. It's the example the state calls non-compliant.
Make sure no card fee is added as a separate receipt line on top of the posted price.
Test with a debit card and confirm it pays the cash price or a non-surcharged total.
If you're in New York City or another city with its own consumer affairs office, check local rules too. Local governments enforce this law, and some have their own.
Where Avocado fits, honestly
Our rate is 5% + 15¢ per card payment, with no monthly software fee. Who pays it is the restaurant's choice: the restaurant, the guest, or a split.
Here's the part that matters in New York. Our guest-paid fee is set by payment method, card or cash, and it's added to the order. It doesn't separate credit from debit, and it isn't a posted menu price. So in New York, I wouldn't use our guest-paid fee as a surcharge. My honest advice is to cover the rate yourself or build it into your menu prices, which New York explicitly allows. Talk to us before you turn on a guest-paid fee.
Avocado is a POS built for independent restaurants and food trucks. We're operators first, and we'd rather tell you the honest version than the version that closes faster.
This is operator experience, not legal advice. Rules vary by state and change often. Statute details are from New York General Business Law §518 as amended by Chapter 723 of the Laws of 2023 (A2672-B) and the Governor's February 6, 2024 announcement, checked November 5, 2026. Confirm current requirements with the New York Department of State's Division of Consumer Protection, your local consumer affairs office or your attorney before you add a surcharge.
