I only see surcharges at Mom & Pop places, and I have no problem using cash there - even at my favorite liquor store, where 4 6-packs of microbrew costs just under $40.

Just had lunch at a restaurant touting their "4% cash discount" which would be effectively a 4% credit card surcharge. I'm writing to ask if that's "normal" or, as it strikes me, rather steep? I used a card with 3% back at restaurants, so lost 20 cents net today.

Yesterday, I was at a bakery/cafe with $10 minimum for any card, debit or credit.

My favorite pizza place has a 4% CC surcharge, up from 2% a year ago.

It quickly would become my former favorite pizza place.

So do you pay card or cash at this pizza place?

I wonder if they may be using the pandemic as justification. I'm not sure there are many situations in general that would cause their processing costs to double, since in theory they're only allowed to charge what it actually costs them and all.

(Of course, the networks don't seem to fully enforce the surcharge rules, either. For instance, lots of places surcharge even for debit cards.)

I pay card — I get either 4% via US Bank Altitude Go or 4x MR with AMEX Gold so it’s at worst a wash.

My point in asking would be whether the processing "loss" is really 4% or whether they're doing a "grab" on this?

I have seen cash discounts of anywhere from 2% to 10%. 3-5% seems to be the most common.

Unlike card surcharges, which have to follow certain rules established by the card networks, cash discounts can be for any amount. I suppose if the discount is more than about 3%, then it is to the restaurant's benefit that you pay by card, but I have a feeling that they just choose some arbitrary amount without doing much math.

I always compare the discount/surcharge to my rewards for that transaction and then decide accordingly, unless the amount is small or I don't have enough cash, in which case I just absorb the difference.

I don't understand why places universally don't adopt cash discount language since having a surcharge that's worded as such could open them up to liabilities.

Perhaps it's to avoid the impression that they're trying to evade taxes? Surcharging at least adds plausible deniability ("Visa and Mastercard are expensive and are why I have to charge extra"), but then again, there are supposedly rules that need to be followed for that.

My guess is to make the prices look cheaper.

I've never heard of a single business in the US facing liabilities for implementing a surcharge. At most, they get a letter from their acquirer saying someone complained, and they stop doing it.

Not that it would stop them or make much of a difference, but is there any language about whether businesses can Implement minimum transaction amounts?

The ten dollar minimum for card purchasing has been legal for a longer period than outright surcharging. FTC Page:

(You can set a lower minimum like $5 if you want, $10 is the ceiling for a credit card minimum.)

Thanks! In Slovakia I ran across a souvenir shop with a 50 (fifty) Euro minimum. The clerk refused a banknote as "defaced" so I put it back in my wallet and walked out; a nearby shopkeeper, who didn't take any credit cards, was fine with it.