Maine Credit Card Surcharge Law
Maine credit card surcharge law bans surcharging outright. No dealership operating in Maine can add a surcharge to a card transaction, full stop, no cap, no workaround. The ban is unusually broad: it names both credit and debit cards by its own terms, and Maine's Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection enforces it.
Maine Bans Card Surcharging
One of only three states with a flat statutory ban. As of July 2026, it is in force.
Maine is one of three states, alongside Connecticut and Massachusetts, where card surcharging is banned outright. The ban is written directly into state statute, not agency guidance, and it applies to every seller in a sales transaction. A dealership that adds a card surcharge in Maine is not working a gray area. It is breaking the law.
The ban sits at 9-A M.R.S. § 8-509, first enacted in 2011, and it is in force statewide with no exception for auto dealerships.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Status | Banned |
| Cap | Not applicable, surcharging is prohibited |
| State statute | 9-A M.R.S. § 8-509 |
| Cards covered | Credit and debit, by the statute's own terms |
| Card network caps | Never come into play, the state ban comes first |
Maine is the exception, not the rule: surcharging is legal in the other 47 states. The Visa and Mastercard surcharge caps that govern those states never come into play here, because state law prohibits the surcharge before any network rule matters. See the full table at credit card surcharge laws by state.
9-A M.R.S. § 8-509, Credit and Debit
What the ban covers, and how broad it really is.
Maine's ban on card surcharges lives at 9-A M.R.S. § 8-509. It prohibits a seller in a sales transaction from imposing a surcharge on a cardholder who chooses to pay with a credit card or a debit card instead of cash or check. The statute was enacted in 2011 and remains in force.
The Ban Names Debit Too
Maine's statute is unusually broad. It bans a surcharge on a cardholder who uses a credit card or a debit card, in the statute's own words. In most states, debit surcharging is blocked only by card network rules; in Maine the state law names debit directly. Either way, no card at any counter carries a surcharge.
Maine lawmakers have kept the ban in place. A 2025 bill, LD 151, would have let sellers add a surcharge; it failed in committee on May 27, 2025. As of July 2026, the ban stands unchanged and no repeal bill is pending before the Legislature.
The statute carves out a single narrow exception, for government entities passing along their actual card processing cost on payments like taxes and fees, with advance disclosure. It has no bearing on a private dealership, which cannot surcharge at all.
Who Enforces the Ban
A real state agency stands behind the prohibition.
Enforcement runs through Maine's Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, which administers and enforces the surcharge prohibition. Its tools include cease and desist orders, orders to reimburse affected customers, and court injunctions sought through the Attorney General.
The ban has held up through July 2026. No court has struck the statute down, and Maine was not part of the litigation that ended surcharge bans in California, Florida, and Texas. The prohibition remains in force statewide.
What This Means at the Counter
In Maine, the counter runs on a different rule than most of the country.
A Maine dealership cannot add a card surcharge to a repair order, a parts sale, or a vehicle transaction. Every department of the store runs under the same rule: sales, service, parts, F&I, body shop. No card fee at any counter, and no percentage line tied to card payment on any receipt. Because the statute names debit as well as credit, there is no debit workaround either.
That does not put Maine stores outside what we do. Dealerships are all we do, and surcharging is one part of the program. We set up dealership card processing for Maine stores without it. Book a demo and see what that looks like for your store. For how the program works where surcharging is legal, see the surcharge program page or the step by step on the how it works page.
Straight Answers on Maine Rules
No. Maine bans card surcharges outright under 9-A M.R.S. § 8-509. It is one of only three states with a flat ban, alongside Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Yes. Unlike most states, Maine's statute names both credit and debit cards by its own terms. Debit, prepaid, and gift cards also can never be surcharged anywhere in the country under card network rules, so in Maine there is no card type you can add a surcharge to.
No. The Visa and Mastercard surcharge caps only matter where state law allows surcharging. Maine law prohibits the surcharge before any network rule comes into play, so there is no cap to work under. The ban is the whole rule.
Maine's Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection administers and enforces the prohibition, with tools that include cease and desist orders, customer reimbursement, and court injunctions sought through the Attorney General.
A 2025 bill, LD 151, would have allowed sellers to surcharge, but it failed in committee on May 27, 2025. The ban remains in force statewide, and no repeal bill is pending in the current session. For pricing and program questions beyond state law, see the FAQ page.
Straight Answers on Maine
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