--- title: HB 726. Commerce and trade; surcharges charged by merchants for purchasers' use of credit cards; limit amount collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb726 cite_as: HB 726, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb726 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb726.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb726/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71135 date: 2025-03-10 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/hb725.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb727.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb726.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 726 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-04 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Terry Cummings - Spencer Frye - Dexter Sharper - Michael Smith - David Wilkerson - Segun Adeyina text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB726/2025 upstream_id: 1991525 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - credit card surcharges - consumer protection - merchant fees - commerce and trade --- # HB 726. Commerce and trade; surcharges charged by merchants for purchasers' use of credit cards; limit amount ## Text House Bill 726 By: Representatives Cummings of the 39th, Frye of the 122nd, Sharper of the 177th, Smith of the 41st, Wilkerson of the 38th, and others 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' use of 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. House Bill 726 would cap the extra fee Georgia merchants can charge customers for paying with a credit card, limiting the surcharge to the merchant's actual cost of processing the transaction. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law already allows merchants to add a surcharge when a customer pays with a credit card instead of cash, under O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.3. This bill adds a new limit to that law: the surcharge a merchant charges cannot be more than what it actually costs the merchant to process that credit card transaction. The bill does this by inserting a new subsection into the existing code section rather than rewriting the whole law. It does not set a specific dollar or percentage cap, instead tying the limit 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 beyond the usual process for bills that become law. ### What it does - Adds a new subsection to Georgia's credit card surcharge law (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.3) limiting how much merchants can charge. - Prohibits merchants from charging a credit card surcharge that exceeds their actual cost of processing that transaction. - Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this new limit. ### Who it affects Retailers and other merchants in Georgia who add surcharges for credit card payments, and Georgia consumers who pay with credit cards, since their maximum surcharge would now be tied to the merchant's real processing cost. ### Why it matters If enacted, merchants could no longer charge card surcharges as a flat markup or profit source; they would need to justify the fee based on actual processing costs, which could reduce what some customers pay when swiping a credit card. ### Key provisions - Section 1 adds new subsection (d.1) to O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.3, barring merchants from charging a credit card surcharge above their actual processing cost. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause clearing away inconsistent prior statutes. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-04) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-10) - Sponsors: Terry Cummings, Spencer Frye, Dexter Sharper, Michael Smith, David Wilkerson, Segun Adeyina - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71135 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb726.md?full=1