RestrictedLast verified: 2026-08-25

Is credit card surcharging legal in Minnesota?

Usually yes, with conditions. Minnesota allows a credit card surcharge but attaches rules you have to meet. Minnesota permits credit card surcharges with a statutory ceiling and an oral-plus-signage disclosure rule. Minn. Stat. § 325G.051 allows a surcharge so long as it does not exceed five percent of the purchase price and the seller informs the customer — orally at the time of sale and by a conspicuously posted sign in person, or by a conspicuous notice during the sale, at the point of sale, on the order summary or on the checkout page online. Minnesota's price-transparency amendments to its Deceptive Trade Practices Act separately require advertised prices to include mandatory fees, which matters if you accept credit cards only.

The statute

Citation: Minn. Stat. § 325G.051

the surcharge does not exceed five percent of the purchase price

Minn. Stat. § 325G.051

How much you can charge

State cap of 5%, but the card networks are stricter: Visa 3% and Mastercard 4%. The network limit is the one you will hit first.

Disclosure requirements

For an online store, post the surcharge notice during the sale, at the point of sale, on the order summary or on the checkout page. If credit card is the only way to pay, the fee is unavoidable and must be inside the advertised price.

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 Minnesota 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.