--- title: HB 700. Commerce and trade; limit amount of surcharges charged by merchants for purchasers using credit cards collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb700 cite_as: HB 700, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb700 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb700.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb700/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71067 date: 2025-03-06 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-09-12 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb699.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb701.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb700.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 700 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-03 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Solomon Adesanya - Arlene Beckles - Saira Draper text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB700/2025 upstream_id: 1990389 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - credit card surcharges - consumer protection - commerce and trade - merchant fees --- # HB 700. Commerce and trade; limit amount of surcharges charged by merchants for purchasers using credit cards ## Text House Bill 700 By: Representatives Adesanya of the 43rd, Beckles of the 96th, and Draper of the 90th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 10-1-393.3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to prohibited use of purchaser's credit card information by merchant, so as to limit the amount of surcharges charged by merchants for purchasers using credit cards; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Code Section 10-1-393.3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to prohibited use of purchaser's credit card information by merchant, is amended by adding a new subsection to read as follows: "(d.1) A merchant shall be prohibited from requiring a purchaser using a credit card for any transaction to pay a surcharge in an amount that exceeds the actual cost to the merchant to process the transaction." SECTION 2. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House bill would cap the surcharge merchants can add when customers pay by credit card, limiting it to what the merchant actually pays to process the transaction. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law already regulates how merchants handle a purchaser's credit card information under O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.3. This bill would add a new limit to that law: when a merchant charges an extra fee (a surcharge) for customers who pay by credit card, that surcharge could not be more than what it actually costs the merchant to process the credit card transaction. The bill adds this rule as a new subsection to the existing code section rather than rewriting the whole law. It does not set a specific dollar cap or percentage; instead it ties the allowed surcharge to the merchant's real processing cost. The bill also repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision, but does not list a separate effective date, so it would take effect under Georgia's general rules for new laws once signed. ### What it does - Adds a new subsection (d.1) to Georgia's credit card law (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.3) addressing surcharges for credit card purchases. - Prohibits merchants from charging a credit card surcharge that exceeds the actual cost the merchant pays to process that transaction. - Applies the limit to any transaction where a purchaser uses a credit card, not just certain types of purchases. - Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this new surcharge limit. ### Who it affects Georgia merchants and retailers who add surcharges for credit card payments, and consumers who use credit cards to make purchases and may currently be charged surcharges above the merchant's actual processing cost. ### Why it matters If enacted, Georgia shoppers who pay by credit card could not be charged more in surcharges than what it actually costs the store to process that payment, which could lower some out-of-pocket costs at checkout while requiring merchants to tie their fees to real processing expenses. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.3 by adding subsection (d.1), which bars merchants from charging a credit card surcharge greater than their actual processing cost. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting state laws, a standard provision clearing the way for the new rule to take effect. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-03) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-06) - Sponsors: Solomon Adesanya, Arlene Beckles, Saira Draper - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71067 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb700.md?full=1