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RestrictedLast verified: 2026-08-25

Is credit card surcharging legal in Arkansas?

Usually yes, with conditions. Arkansas allows a credit card surcharge but attaches rules you have to meet. Arkansas appears to have no statute that bans or caps credit card surcharges, but the Arkansas Attorney General publishes consumer guidance that a surcharge must be disclosed to the customer before the sale. Secondary surveys read that guidance as the state's operative requirement rather than a statutory cap. Treat pre-transaction disclosure as compulsory and keep the surcharge inside the card-network ceilings.

Under review

We could not confirm this entry against a Arkansas statute or a state agency publication. Everything below is written as our current reading of secondary sources, not as a settled statement of Arkansas law. Verify with counsel before you rely on it.

How much you can charge

No state cap. The binding limits are the card networks: Visa caps a credit card surcharge at the lower of your merchant discount rate or 3% (reduced from 4% effective 15 April 2023) and Mastercard caps it at 4%. Surcharging debit cards is prohibited nationwide.

Disclosure requirements

The Attorney General's consumer pages emphasise disclosing the surcharge before the customer pays. Show it on the checkout page, not only on the receipt.

Not legal advice

This page is a research summary for merchants, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Surcharge rules change, they interact with card-network rules and federal law, and they can turn on facts specific to your business. Consult licensed counsel in Arkansas before you implement or change a surcharge.

Putting this into practice on Shopify

Rules like these only help if your checkout can actually enforce them, including on Shop Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Shopify surcharge guideSee FeeLayer