Stop paying to accept cards out of your own margin.
Dual pricing posts two prices: a cash price and a card price. Every customer sees both before they pay. The disclosed card price covers the cost of acceptance, so processing stops quietly eating the margin you worked for.
Request a reviewThree models get sold as the same thing. We only set up one of them.
Most "zero-fee" programs blur these three together and let the merchant find out later which one they actually signed up for. We set up dual pricing, name the other two plainly, and put the mechanics in writing before anything ships.
Dual pricing
You post a cash price and a card price, and every customer sees both before they pay. It is the simplest model and the most broadly compliant across the country. This is the one we set up.
Cash discount
You post one price and take an amount off when the customer pays cash. Narrower in practice, and the model that gets mislabeled as dual pricing the most often.
Surcharging — we don't offer this
You add a fee on top of one posted price. Card brands cap it, states restrict it, debit can't be surcharged at all, and it's a registered program requiring 30 days' written notice to your acquirer. We don't set these up.
Dual pricing, configured for your counter.
The program is a flat-rate, dual-price model: a cash price and a slightly higher non-cash price, both posted, both visible before payment. PIN-debit transactions pay the cash price.
Signage is mandatory and comes with the program. It runs on North's EPX processing platform and works with specific terminals — which is part of why we confirm your hardware before anything ships.
Average ticket and merchant classification restrictions apply. Only compatible with certain terminals and EPX processing. Additional fees apply. Program not available for Canadian merchants. Dual signage pricing required.
We decline the model that creates the most problems.
Surcharging looks like dual pricing from a distance, but it carries rules dual pricing doesn't. Debit and prepaid cards can't be surcharged at all. Visa caps the surcharge at the lesser of your cost of acceptance or 3%, and it takes 30 days' written notice to your acquirer before you can even start. Four jurisdictions prohibit it outright, and several more restrict how it's done.
That's a lot of ways for a merchant to end up out of compliance without knowing it. Declining to sell surcharging is the same move we make on the who this isn't for list, applied to a product: if it's more likely to cause you a problem than solve one, we'd rather not put you on it.
What your customer actually sees.
On a $12.00 ticket, both prices are on display before a card ever comes out. Cash and debit pay the listed price; a credit card pays the disclosed card price.
The listed price
What the ticket rings up as
Paying with cash or debit
The customer avoids the difference
Paying with a credit card
The disclosed card price, shown before payment
Figures are illustrative. Briar sets up dual pricing, flat rate, and interchange-plus programs; we do not offer surcharging. Your advisor confirms which model applies to your business before setup.
Compliant is not a checkbox. It's the install.
Card brand rules
Visa, Mastercard, and the other networks each set their own requirements for disclosure, caps, and eligible transaction types. Your program satisfies all of them at once — not just one.
Signage and disclosure
Signage at the door and the point of sale, plus receipt-level disclosure, ship with every install. If a customer can't see both prices before paying, it isn't compliant, and we won't set it up that way.
State law
Rules differ from state to state. We configure the account for your jurisdiction and adjust the model to whatever is lawful where you actually do business.
Before you switch.
Is dual pricing legal in my state?
Dual pricing is permitted nationwide when it's implemented correctly. Surcharging specifically is regulated state to state and by card brand rules, so we configure every account for your jurisdiction before anything goes live.
What does my customer actually see?
Clear signage at the point of sale and an itemized difference on the receipt. Both prices are disclosed before payment, and anyone paying with cash or debit avoids the difference entirely.
Do I need new equipment?
In most cases we provide terminals or a POS already configured for the program. If you have hardware you'd like to keep, we'll tell you honestly whether it can run dual pricing compliantly before you commit.
Will this cost me sales?
Most merchants see no measurable drop in card usage — the per-transaction difference is small and clearly disclosed. If your customer base is unusually price-sensitive, we'll say so during the statement review, not after you've switched.
Let's talk through whether dual pricing fits your business.
We'll walk you through how the program works for a business like yours and whether it's the right move. A recent statement lets us tailor the picture to you.