The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office is notifying residents of a change in state law that now allows merchants to add a surcharge to credit card transactions, as long as they notify customers before the sale.

District Attorney Marc Bennett said in a press release that state law has been amended to allow any person or retailer offering sales, services or lease transactions to impose a surcharge on credit card payments, as long as the amount of the surcharge is disclosed through a “clear and conspicuous notice to the customer at the point of entry or the point of sale and in advance of such transaction.”

Before this change, Kansas had what amounted to a ban on surcharges, allowing only for cash discounts on sales. In 2021, however, the ban was held to be unconstitutional in a federal case, finding it was a violation of the First Amendment.

Although debit cards are not mentioned in the body of the new Kansas statute, adding a debit card surcharge remains illegal in all 50 states under federal law, specifically the
Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Reform and Consumer Protections Act. Similarly, because Kansas state law has no maximum surcharge, the maximum allowed in
Kansas is capped by federal law at 4%.