Quote:

As i recall, it used to be (edit: still is) illegal for a shop to offer cash customers a discount that was not available to credit customers, or to charge a credit customer more than a cash customer.

With so many CC companies offering cash back or rewards options these days, I really believe the prohibition on offering cash customers a discount not available to CC customers should be revisited.


Visa and MasterCard have language prohibiting a credit card surcharge, but there's no actual prohibition on a cash discount. If you want a source, see the MasterCard merchant rules at http://www.mastercard.com/us/wce/PDF/MERC-Entire_Manual.pdf (specifically Bylaws & Rules, section 9.12.2).

AMEX and Discover are a little different in that they'll allow you to charge a surcharge on their cards, but if you also accept any cards that don't allow a surchage, then you can't add a surchage to AMEX or Discover. Basically, if you take Visa or MasterCard, you can't surchage AMEX or Discover either. Essentially, they don't want you as a merchant to engage in any practice that would put their card at a disadvantage relative to any other card.
_________________________
-Aaron