What is Dual Pricing?
Dual Pricing means every item in your store has two prices: a cash price and a card price. The prices in your POS are your cash prices. When a customer pays with a credit or debit card, the price is increased by a set percentage (for example, 4%).
As an example, let's say an item is priced at $100 and your Dual Pricing percentage is 4%:
- If the customer pays with cash, they pay $100.
- If the customer pays with a credit or debit card, they pay $104.
What is the benefit?
- Card-paying customers cover the cost of card processing, which can offset nearly all of your processing fees, while cash-paying customers simply pay your everyday price.
- Unlike surcharging, dual pricing applies to both credit and debit cards, has no percentage cap, and is permitted in all 50 states.
How it works at checkout
- The prices in your POS are your cash prices.
- At checkout, your payment terminal shows the cashier both the cash price and the card price, and the customer chooses how they want to pay.
- If the customer pays by card, the card price is charged.
- The receipt shows the price for the payment method the customer chose — there is no separate "fee" or "discount" line. This is a card-brand requirement: adding a separate fee line to the receipt would turn the program into a surcharge.
Regulations and compliance
Dual pricing is generally considered the safest differential pricing program by the card brands, but the key requirement is transparency:
- Both prices must be displayed wherever your prices appear. This can be price tags showing both prices, or clear signage at the register.
- If your price tags only show one price, it is better to show no price on the tag than to show only the cash price.
- A simple sign such as "We offer both a cash price and a card price" at the entrance and register is recommended.
- Never add a separate fee at checkout or on the receipt — with dual pricing, the product price itself is what changes.
How do I enable Dual Pricing?
Dual pricing is configured for you by your payment services representative — contact them to get set up. Once enabled, you can view your dual pricing status and Dual Pricing percentage in the POS app under Settings → Differential Pricing.
For a comparison of dual pricing with our other differential pricing programs, see Differential Pricing.