Card minimums are legal in a narrow way: a store can require you to spend at least a certain amount to pay with a credit card, but that minimum cannot exceed $10, and no minimum of any size is allowed on debit card purchases. Both rules come from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
The $10 Cap on Credit Card Minimums
Federal law gives merchants the explicit right to set a minimum purchase amount for credit card transactions, and it caps that minimum at $10. A coffee shop that won’t run a credit card for less than $5 or $8 is within the law. A shop posting a $15 minimum is not.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693o-2 – Reasonable Fees and Rules for Payment Card Transactions
Whatever minimum a merchant chooses has to apply the same way to every credit card brand they accept. A business cannot enforce a $10 floor on American Express while waving Visa and Mastercard through at any amount. The rule is one rule for all credit cards at that register.
Congress wrote the cap into the statute because of interchange fees, the processing charges card networks collect on each transaction. On a $2 sale, those fees can wipe out the merchant’s margin, so the $10 minimum gives businesses a way to avoid losing money on very small credit card purchases.
Debit Card Minimums Are Not Allowed
The same statute treats debit cards differently. Merchants cannot set any minimum purchase amount for debit transactions. If your card is a debit card, the store has to accept it whether you’re buying a $40 cart of groceries or a single pack of gum.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693o-2 – Reasonable Fees and Rules for Payment Card Transactions
The reason sits inside the same law. The Durbin Amendment capped debit card interchange fees at roughly 21 cents plus 0.05% of the transaction for banks with $10 billion or more in assets. Because that cap slashed what merchants pay to process debit payments, Congress didn’t extend the minimum-purchase allowance to debit cards.
Pressing “Credit” on a Debit Card Doesn’t Change the Rule
At checkout, a debit card terminal often asks you to choose “debit” (with a PIN) or “credit” (with a signature). The choice affects how the transaction is routed, not what kind of card you’re holding. A debit card stays a debit card either way, and the merchant still cannot impose a minimum. Visa’s own merchant rules spell this out: even after the cardholder pushes the credit button, a debit card cannot be subject to a minimum purchase amount.2Visa. Minimum Transaction Amount on a Visa Credit Card
Government Agencies and Universities Can Set Maximums Instead
One narrow group plays by different rules in the opposite direction. Federal agencies and institutions of higher education are allowed to set a maximum dollar value on credit card transactions, meaning they can refuse credit cards for purchases above a set amount. A university bursar or bookstore can cap credit card acceptance at a certain figure. The nondiscrimination principle still applies: any maximum has to treat all card networks the same.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693o-2 – Reasonable Fees and Rules for Payment Card Transactions
Minimums Are Not the Same as Surcharges or Cash Discounts
These three tools get mixed up constantly, and each has its own rules.
A minimum is the amount you must spend before the merchant will run your card at all. Legal on credit cards up to $10, never legal on debit cards.
A surcharge is an extra fee added on top of the price when you pay with a credit card. Surcharges are governed by state law. Roughly ten states and Puerto Rico ban credit card surcharges outright. Where they are permitted, card network rules require the surcharge to be posted at the entrance, shown again at the point of sale, and listed as a separate line item on the receipt.3Visa. Surcharging Credit Cards – Q&A for Merchants Surcharging a debit card transaction is illegal under federal law everywhere in the country.
A cash discount is a price reduction offered to buyers who pay with cash. Federal law protects a merchant’s ability to offer these, as long as the discount is available to all buyers and clearly advertised.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666f – Inducements to Cardholders by Sellers of Cash Discounts Cash discounts are legal in all 50 states.
The wording matters. “4% fee for credit card payments” is a surcharge, which is banned in some states and always banned on debit. “4% discount for cash” is a cash discount, which is federally protected. Same dollars, different legal treatment.
What to Do If a Store Breaks the Rule
If a merchant is charging a minimum on debit card purchases, or setting a credit card minimum higher than $10, you have real avenues.
The fastest lever is often the card network itself. Networks enforce their own merchant agreements, and a violation can cost a business fines or its ability to accept that brand of card. Visa runs an online form for reporting purchase issues, including illegal minimums and undisclosed surcharges.5Visa. Report a Purchase Issue Mastercard routes reports through the “Problems shopping” section of its site, which directs you to email. Either way, note the business name, address, date, and what happened.
Your state attorney general handles consumer protection complaints, including improper surcharges in states that ban them. Most AG offices take complaints through an online portal. A single report may not move the needle, but repeated complaints about the same business can lead to enforcement.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also accepts consumer complaints at consumerfinance.gov. The bureau’s authority over an individual merchant’s pricing at the register is limited, but the complaints feed the pattern-spotting that drives its larger actions.