MerchantLayer
No state statuteLast verified: 2026-08-25

Is credit card surcharging legal in Maryland?

Yes, as far as state law goes. We found no Maryland statute that specifically addresses credit card surcharging. We found no Maryland statute that bans or caps merchant credit card surcharges. Md. Code, Commercial Law § 12-509 addresses the opposite arrangement — it preserves a seller's ability to offer a discount to customers who pay cash — and contains no percentage ceiling on surcharges. Some payments-industry summaries assert a 4% Maryland cap; we could not locate statutory support for that, and 4% is the Mastercard network ceiling rather than a Maryland rule.

The statute

Citation: Md. Code, Com. Law § 12-509 (cash discounts)

We have not reproduced operative text here because we could not confirm a clean verbatim quote against the official source. Follow the citation and the source links below.

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

No state-specific disclosure statute located. Card-network rules still require the surcharge to be disclosed before checkout, itemised as its own line on the receipt, and notified to your acquirer at least 30 days in advance.

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 Maryland 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