For years, adding a fee for card payments sat in a gray area for a lot of Louisiana businesses. SB 254 removes the gray area for one kind of card. Starting August 1, 2026, it is illegal to impose an extra amount on a customer for paying with a debit card. The law does not ban every pricing strategy - it bans that one specific thing.

What the law actually prohibits

The prohibition is narrow and precise: an additional amount imposed at the time of sale for using a debit card. A single price for everyone is fine. A genuine cash discount is fine. Surcharging credit cards is not touched by this law. What changes is debit - any fee that reaches a debit card is now off-limits.

That word "reaches" is where the risk hides. Plenty of businesses that believe they only surcharge credit are, in practice, surcharging debit too, because their equipment cannot reliably tell the two apart. That gap is the most common way a well-meaning business ends up exposed (more on it in PIN debit vs. signature debit).

Who it covers

SB 254 reaches retail sellers broadly. Restaurants, shops, salons, service businesses - if you sell to the public in Louisiana and accept debit cards, the safe assumption is that it applies to you. The realistic question is not whether it covers you, but whether the way you take card payments today already complies.

A note on timing: SB 254 passed both chambers with broad bipartisan support and is settled law, but the fine print of how it is enforced is still taking shape. The Attorney General's enforcement rules are still being finalized, so some operational details may change. Everything here reflects the law as written - for advice on your specific situation, consult a qualified professional, and confirm rather than assume.

What this means for you before August 1

Because the law makes the retail business liable - not your processor - "I did not know" will not be a defense. The good news is that this is fixable, and the fix is far simpler before the deadline than after a complaint. The fastest way to see where you stand is the Risk Scorecard. The surest way to know is a free compliance check from ZeroPoint: we read your actual setup and tell you plainly whether debit is exposed, and what it would take to fix it.