Act 751 (formerly SB 254) - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — they are the same law. Louisiana Senate Bill 254 (SB 254) was the bill number during the legislative session; when Gov. Jeff Landry signed it on June 2, 2026 it became Act 751, codified at La. R.S. 51:3081. It prohibits charging a customer an extra amount for paying with a debit card. It was framed as a consumer-protection measure, aligning Louisiana with the existing federal prohibition on debit-card surcharges under the Dodd-Frank Act. It takes effect August 1, 2026.

Nothing about the law itself changed — only its label, and that's simply how Louisiana's legislative process works. While a proposal is still moving through the Legislature it carries a bill number: "SB" for a Senate bill, "HB" for a House bill. This one was Senate Bill 254.

Once both chambers pass the bill and the Governor signs it, the enrolled law is given a sequential Act number for that session. When Gov. Landry signed it on June 2, 2026, Senate Bill 254 became Act 751 of the 2026 Regular Session. Its permanent home is the Louisiana Revised Statutes, where it's codified at R.S. 51:3081.

So "SB 254" and "Act 751" are the same debit-surcharge ban at two different stages: SB 254 is what it was called while it was a bill (and what most people searched for over the past few months), and Act 751 is its name now that it's law. Same rules, same penalties, same August 1, 2026 effective date.

August 1, 2026. The bill passed both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature (Senate 35-0, House 83-14) and has been signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry. The date is set - we update this page as the Attorney General's enforcement guidance is published.

Almost certainly, if you sell to the public in Louisiana and accept debit cards. Restaurants, retail shops, salons, and service businesses are all in scope - the law reaches retail sellers broadly, so the safest assumption is that it applies to you. The real question isn't whether it applies, but whether the way you take card payments complies. The Risk Scorecard walks you through it in four questions.

Two channels. First, a private right of action - a customer can sue for actual damages, with no class action required, for willful, repeated, or uncured violations. Second, the Attorney General, who can bring a civil action directly and must maintain a toll-free hotline and an online reporting system for unlawful-surcharge complaints, supported by the customer's own receipt. The AG's enforcement rules are still being finalized; we track changes and update this resource as they are published.

Not after August 1, 2026. SB 254 prohibits charging a customer an extra amount for paying with a debit card. Credit-card surcharging is not banned by this law, and genuine cash discounts remain legal - the line the law draws is debit.

No. SB 254 targets debit cards. Surcharging credit cards is not prohibited by this law - but only if debit is reliably and verifiably excluded. The common trap is a "credit-only" surcharge that the point-of-sale system can't actually keep off debit, so debit gets charged anyway.

Yes - a genuine cash discount is allowed. The key is structure: there must be one posted price everyone sees, with cash buyers getting a discount off it. That's different from a base price with a fee added for paying by card, which is a surcharge in substance even if it's labeled a discount.

The structure controls, not the label. A surcharge starts from a base price and adds an extra amount at checkout for paying by card. A cash discount starts from one posted price that everyone sees and takes an amount off for paying cash. They can cost the customer the same dollar, but only the cash-discount structure stays legal once SB 254 takes effect. See the side-by-side comparison on the homepage.

Not to the law. A debit card can be processed as PIN debit or routed as signature debit through a credit network (often just a swipe or tap, no PIN) - but it pulls from a deposit account either way, so it's a debit card under SB 254 regardless of how it's run. The trap is point-of-sale systems that can't tell debit from credit and so can't reliably exclude debit from a "credit-only" surcharge.

A private right of action lets a customer sue for actual damages with no class action required - it applies to willful, repeated, or uncured violations. Separately, the Attorney General can bring a civil action, with complaints arriving through a toll-free hotline and online reporting portal backed by the customer's receipt; violating an AG or court order carries civil penalties of up to $500 per violation, plus the AG's attorney fees and costs. The Attorney General's enforcement rules are still being finalized.

Before suing, a customer must send the business written notice of the violation. If the business cures it and reimburses the surcharge within 30 days of receiving that notice, no private suit can arise from it. The catches: it doesn't cover willful or repeated violations, every affected customer can trigger their own notice, and it doesn't limit the Attorney General's enforcement at all. That's why the goal is to confirm compliance before August 1, not to lean on the window after.

Yes. The law applies to the retail business, not the company that configured your equipment. If your terminal is surcharging debit, that's your exposure - even if you didn't set it up and didn't know. "My processor handles that" is the most common way a compliant-looking program quietly charges debit, and it isn't a defense.

The fastest tell is your merchant processing statement - it shows whether you're surcharging, at what rate, and through which processor. Take the Risk Scorecard for an instant read, or request a free compliance check to have it confirmed against the text of the law.

At a concept level: confirm how you currently take card payments, and confirm that debit is never charged an extra amount - no matter how a debit card is run. If you can't confirm that, treat it as worth checking before the deadline rather than after a complaint. Because the Attorney General's enforcement rules are still being finalized and every setup differs, consult a qualified professional for advice specific to your business.