Louisiana Credit Card Surcharge Law
Louisiana credit card surcharge law allows surcharging. No state statute bans or caps it, so card network rules set the ceiling. A 2026 law does ban surcharges on debit cards, but it leaves credit cards untouched.
Louisiana Allows Credit Card Surcharging
No ban, no cap, no disclosure statute on credit. Louisiana has nothing on the books.
As of July 2026, Louisiana has never passed a law that bans, caps, or sets a disclosure format for credit card surcharges at private businesses. With no state credit statute in play, the card networks set the rules, the same as in every other state where surcharging is legal. One 2026 law does touch surcharging in Louisiana, but it applies to debit cards only. More on that below.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Status | Allowed |
| Cap | Card network caps |
| State statute | None on credit surcharges |
| Disclosure | Card network rules |
Louisiana 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 cap on the books, Visa and Mastercard's own rules do the work.
-
Visa: 3% Cap
In force nationwide since April 2023. Louisiana has no state ceiling.
-
Mastercard: 4% Cap
Same network standard as Visa applies, just a higher ceiling.
-
Debit Never Surcharges
Debit, prepaid, and gift cards can never carry a surcharge, in Louisiana or anywhere else.
-
Disclosure Is Mandatory
Post notice at the door and the counter, and show the surcharge as its own line on the receipt.
No State Rule, Just Two Numbers
With no state statute on the books, Visa's 3 percent and Mastercard's 4 percent are the only numbers a Louisiana dealership runs against on credit. A standard 3 percent credit card surcharge sits inside Visa's cap.
Louisiana Has No Actual-Cost Cap
A rule some surcharge guides publish for Louisiana was never enacted.
Search for Louisiana's surcharge rules and you will find a confident line: that a business cannot charge a surcharge greater than what it pays to process the transaction. That actual-cost cap is not Louisiana law. It never was.
The language traces to House Bill 487, filed in the 2024 Regular Session, which would have capped surcharges at the merchant's cost of processing. It stalled in the House Commerce Committee and saw no further action after March 19, 2024. The session ended and the bill died. Louisiana enacted nothing in its place for credit cards, so the guides that still quote that cap are quoting a bill, not a law.
The Only Real Ceilings
As of July 2026, the only numbers that cap a Louisiana credit card surcharge are the card network ceilings: Visa at 3 percent and Mastercard at 4 percent. There is no state percentage and no state cost-of-processing rule.
No Debit Surcharge Is Now Louisiana State Law
In most states this is only a network rule. In Louisiana it is also state law.
Act 751, signed June 2, 2026 and effective August 1, 2026, adds a new chapter to the Louisiana Revised Statutes, R.S. 51:3081 and 3082, titled Debit Card Surcharge. It applies to debit cards only and does not change credit card surcharging in Louisiana. It writes the debit rule the networks already enforce into Louisiana's own code. Here is the operative language.
What Act 751 Says
"In a sale of goods or services, a retail business shall not impose a surcharge on a cardholder who uses a debit card instead of cash, check, credit card, or any other similar means of payment."
Credit cards appear once in that text, named only as one of the payment methods a debit user might choose instead. Louisiana's credit rules did not change; they are still the network rules above.
The Rule Follows the Card, Not the Button
Pressing Credit at the terminal does not change what the card is underneath. A debit card run as credit is still a debit card, and no surcharge applies to it, by network rule everywhere and now by Louisiana statute too.
What This Means at the Counter
One playbook, and one bright line between credit and debit.
The checklist at a Louisiana counter is the card network playbook and nothing more. A standard 3 percent credit card surcharge sits inside Visa's cap, with notice posted at the point of entry, posted again at the point of sale, and the surcharge itemized as its own line on the receipt. Debit never carries a surcharge, no exceptions and no workarounds, and as of August 1, 2026 that is Louisiana law as well as a network rule. The surcharge program never surcharges debit in the first place, so Act 751 changes nothing about how it runs at your counter.
Payments post straight to the repair order in CDK Drive, so the surcharge line shows up where your advisors already work. We track the state, not your front desk. See the full mechanics on the surcharge program page, or walk through exactly what happens at the terminal on the how it works page.
Straight Answers on Louisiana Rules
Yes. Louisiana has no state statute banning or capping credit card surcharges for private merchants. With nothing at the state level, the card networks' own rules govern instead.
No. Louisiana has no state cap on credit card surcharges. The actual-cost cap that some guides list comes from House Bill 487, a 2024 bill that never became law. The card network ceilings apply: Visa at 3 percent, Mastercard at 4 percent.
No. Debit, prepaid, and gift cards can never carry a surcharge, in Louisiana or any other state. That has always been a card network rule, and as of August 1, 2026 a Louisiana law, Act 751, bans debit surcharges too. Choosing Credit at the terminal does not turn a debit card into a credit card.
Act 751, effective August 1, 2026, adds R.S. 51:3081 and 3082 to state law and bars a retail business from surcharging a customer who pays with a debit card. It applies to debit cards only. It does not change anything about credit card surcharging in Louisiana.
Louisiana has no state disclosure statute for credit card surcharges, so the card network rules set the standard: post notice at the point of entry and 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 Louisiana
Know Where Your Dealership Stands
Book a demo: your Louisiana rules, your cap, and how the program handles disclosure at your counter, walked through on a real repair order. 100+ franchise dealerships nationwide · 20 years in payments · Houston, TX.
Book a Demo