Maine House Bill LD151

Maine 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/14/25
• Refer: 1/14/25
• Failed: 5/27/25

Caption

An Act to Allow Businesses to Impose a Surcharge on Credit Card and Debit Card Transactions

Summary

LD 151 would change Maine’s current surcharge rules for card payments. Under existing law, sellers in sales transactions generally may not add a surcharge when a customer chooses to pay by credit card or debit card instead of cash, check, or similar means. This bill would reverse that rule for private sellers and allow businesses to impose a surcharge on credit card and debit card transactions, so long as the surcharge is clearly disclosed before payment and does not exceed the merchant’s direct card-processing costs or fees charged by an authorized third-party payment processor. The bill also allows governmental entities to continue imposing surcharges in certain circumstances, including for taxes, fines, utility fees, regulatory fees, registration and license fees, and the provision of specific services or goods, again subject to disclosure and cost limits. It specifies that if no debit card processing cost is charged by a third-party processor, no debit card surcharge may be imposed. The bill further repeals a separate chapter of law governing credit card practices for travel service providers, which currently prohibits those providers from imposing surcharges on credit card transactions.

Impact

If enacted, LD 151 would amend Maine’s consumer payment law by removing the general prohibition on seller-imposed surcharges for credit and debit card use and replacing it with a permission-based framework tied to disclosure and actual processing costs. It would affect merchants, consumers, payment processors, and governmental entities that accept card payments for fees and services. The bill would also repeal existing statutory provisions that specifically restrict travel service providers from adding credit card surcharges, thereby broadening the categories of businesses that could pass card acceptance costs on to customers.

Sentiment

No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no documented debate or vote history to gauge legislative sentiment. Based on the bill text alone, the proposal appears business-friendly and aimed at allowing sellers to recover card processing expenses, while preserving consumer notice requirements and cost caps. The absence of discussion records means support or opposition cannot be reliably characterized from the available materials.

Contention

The main point of contention is likely the shift in cost burden from businesses to consumers: supporters would view the bill as a way to let merchants recover credit and debit card processing fees, while opponents may argue it creates hidden or added charges for consumers and could discourage card use. Another likely issue is the scope of the permission for governmental entities and sellers to surcharge for public fees and services, as well as the repeal of the travel-services-specific surcharge prohibition. The bill’s limits on disclosure and on charging no more than actual processing costs appear designed to address these concerns, but no formal testimony is available here.