New Hampshire Credit Card Surcharge Law
New Hampshire credit card surcharge law allows surcharging. No state statute bans or caps it, so card network rules set the ceiling. The chapter people cite as New Hampshire's surcharge ban, RSA 358-K, is an interest statute that never mentions a surcharge at all.
New Hampshire Allows Credit Card Surcharging
No ban, no cap, no disclosure statute. The state layer is empty.
As of July 2026, New Hampshire has no statute banning, capping, or regulating credit card surcharges for private businesses. A 2013 bill that would have made surcharging an unfair and deceptive practice, House Bill 682, was sent to interim study and never became law, and nothing has replaced it since. With no state statute in play, the card networks set the rules, the same as they do everywhere else surcharging is legal.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Status | Allowed |
| Cap | Card network caps |
| State statute | None for private merchants |
| Disclosure | Card network rules |
New Hampshire 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. New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire 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.
Two Numbers, No State Layer
With no state statute on the books, Visa's 3 percent and Mastercard's 4 percent are the only numbers a New Hampshire dealership runs against. A standard 3 percent credit card surcharge sits inside Visa's cap.
What New Hampshire Law Actually Says
The chapter people point to is not a surcharge law at all.
Guides around the web, and even AI search results, cite RSA 358-K as New Hampshire's ban on credit card surcharges. It is not. RSA 358-K, titled Regulation of Consumer Credit Transactions, is an interest computation chapter: its sections govern how interest is figured and rebated on consumer loans, including the actuarial method used to compute it, along with a penalty section and a section on how the chapter applies. The word surcharge appears nowhere in it.
The ban sounding language people quote, that a surcharge on a credit card purchase is an unfair and deceptive practice, effective January 1, 2014, is not law. It is the proposed text of House Bill 682, a 2013 bill about credit card fees introduced in the New Hampshire legislature. The legislature referred House Bill 682 to interim study in November 2013, and it never became law; the January 1, 2014 date those write ups quote is only the date the bill would have taken effect had it passed. As of July 2026, surcharging remains legal in New Hampshire, with no state cap of its own.
The Playbook Does Not Change
House Bill 682 never became law, and the program already posts notice at the point of entry and the point of sale and itemizes the surcharge on the receipt. We track the state, not your front desk.
What This Means at the Counter
One playbook, and it is the network one.
At a New Hampshire counter, the network playbook is the only rulebook that applies. Run a standard 3 percent credit card surcharge inside Visa's cap, post notice at the door and again at the register, and itemize it as its own line on the receipt. Debit stays off the table, no exceptions, no workarounds.
New Hampshire sets no cap of its own, so this number does not shift just because a legislative session comes and goes. House Bill 682 could have changed that back in 2013, but it never became law, so a standard 3 percent surcharge under the network ceiling is the rule at every New Hampshire store today. New Hampshire also has no general sales tax, so there is no question of the surcharge itself being taxed.
None of that changes at the point of sale software level either: 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.
Straight Answers on New Hampshire Rules
Yes. New Hampshire does not have a statute that bans or caps credit card surcharging for private businesses, so with no state rules in play, the card networks set the terms.
Yes. There is no New Hampshire cap, so the network ceilings are what apply: Visa holds credit card surcharges to 3 percent and Mastercard to 4 percent.
No. RSA 358-K governs how interest is calculated and rebated on consumer loans, and it says nothing about surcharges. The ban text people quote is the proposed language of House Bill 682 from 2013, which the legislature referred to interim study in November 2013; it never became law.
No. Debit, prepaid, and gift cards can never carry a surcharge, whether in New Hampshire or any other state. That limit comes from the card networks, not from New Hampshire law.
No. House Bill 682 in 2013 would have, but the legislature sent it to interim study in November 2013 and it never became law, so surcharging is legal in New Hampshire as of July 2026. For pricing and program questions beyond state law, see the FAQ page.
Straight Answers on New Hampshire
Know Where Your Dealership Stands
Book a demo: your New Hampshire 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