Hawaii Credit Card Surcharge Law
Hawaii credit card surcharge law allows surcharging. There is no state statute or state cap for private merchants today, so card network caps set the ceiling. Lawmakers tried to ban surcharging outright a decade ago, and both attempts died without passing.
Hawaii Allows Credit Card Surcharging
No statute bans it, caps it, or sets disclosure rules for it. Not one on the books for private merchants.
Hawaii has no state statute in force that bans, caps, or imposes disclosure requirements on credit card surcharges by private merchants. A dealership charging a standard credit card surcharge is not working around any Hawaii law. There simply is not one on the books for a private business like a dealership. As of July 2026, that remains the case.
Some sites still describe Hawaii as restricting or forbidding surcharges. That is not accurate. Those write-ups are quoting bills that were introduced a decade ago and never became law. See the What Is Actually on the Books section below for the full story on those bills and why the confusion persists.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Status | Allowed |
| Cap | Card network caps |
| State statute | None for private merchants |
| Disclosure | Card network rules: post it and put it on the receipt |
Hawaii is one of 47 states where surcharging is legal. See the full table at credit card surcharge laws by state.
The Card Networks Set the Ceiling
With no state statute on the books, Visa and Mastercard's own rules do the work.
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Visa: 3% Cap
In force nationwide since April 2023. Hawaii has no lower state ceiling.
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Mastercard: 4% Cap
Same network standard as Visa applies, just a higher ceiling.
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Debit Never Surcharges
Debit, prepaid, and gift cards can never carry a surcharge, in Hawaii or anywhere else.
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Disclosure Is Mandatory
Post notice at the door and the counter, and show the surcharge as its own line on the receipt.
No State Cap Does Not Mean No Ceiling
A missing state statute is not an open field. Visa's 3 percent and Mastercard's 4 percent still apply to every Hawaii dealership, and they are the only numbers a dealership needs to run against today. A standard 3 percent credit card surcharge sits inside Visa's cap.
What Is Actually on the Books
One chapter with no surcharge language, two bills that never passed, and one unrelated statute that keeps getting confused with both.
Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 481B, the state's unfair and deceptive trade practices chapter, contains no surcharge language. It does not ban surcharging, does not cap it, and does not set disclosure rules for it. As of July 2026, nothing has changed that.
Two bills tried to change that, and both died. SB 470, introduced in 2013, and SB 2745, introduced in 2014, would have added anti-surcharge provisions to Chapter 481B, including language that would have barred merchants from adding any charge "in place of cash or check." Neither bill passed. That never-enacted language is exactly what outdated write-ups are still quoting when they describe Hawaii as restricting surcharges. It was a proposal, not a law, and it has not become one since.
Hawaii does have a credit card statute on the books: HRS 478-11.5. It governs the banks that issue credit cards, setting an interest ceiling and issuer fee disclosure rules, not merchants accepting card payments at the counter. It says nothing about surcharging and does not apply to a dealership running a surcharge program.
What This Means at the Counter
The counter just needs three things right.
A standard 3% credit card surcharge sits inside Visa's cap and stays disclosed the same way every other surcharging state requires: notice at the point of entry, notice at the point of sale, and the surcharge itemized as its own line on the receipt. Debit never carries a surcharge, in Hawaii or anywhere else, no exceptions and no workarounds. We track the state, not your front desk.
Payments post straight to the repair order in CDK Drive, so the surcharge line shows up where your advisors already work. See the full mechanics on the surcharge program page, or walk through exactly what happens at the terminal on the how it works page.
Separately, Hawaii passed Act 159 (Senate Bill 3255), signed June 25, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026. It requires retail businesses to accept cash for in-person transactions, and it lets those businesses round cash totals to the nearest five cents now that the penny is being wound down. That rounding applies to cash only, not card payments. Act 159 is not a surcharge law, and Hawaii's surcharge rules did not change.
Straight Answers on Hawaii Rules
Yes. No state statute bans or caps credit card surcharges for private merchants in Hawaii; card network rules govern.
Yes. Visa's 3 percent ceiling governs, and Mastercard allows up to 4 percent under its own rules.
No. Those write-ups quote SB 470 (2013) and SB 2745 (2014), bills that never passed. Chapter 481B contains no surcharge language.
Yes, for in-person transactions. Act 159, effective July 1, 2026, requires retail businesses to accept cash and allows rounding cash totals to the nearest five cents. It is not a surcharge law; card payments and surcharge rules are unchanged.
Hawaii has no state disclosure statute for private merchants. The standard comes from the card networks: post notice at the point of entry, post it again at the point of sale, and show the surcharge as its own line on the receipt. For pricing and program questions beyond state law, see the FAQ page.
Straight Answers on Hawaii
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