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US-MT (US-MT) · Module W4 · Derived Confidence: Probable

US-MT: Scheme & Network Compliance

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Montana permits credit card surcharging up to ~3% in market practice; MCA 61-3-117 (state agencies) and MCA 7-6-617 (local government) expressly authorize fee pass-through for government payments. SB 528 (2025), previously cited as the enacting private-merchant surcharge statute, died in standing committee 2025-05-23 and was never enacted; the statutory basis for general private-merchant surcharging remains an open question.

Standing sub-brief · as of 5 July 2026183 words · last cycle 2026-07-05

Scheme & Network Compliance

Montana permits credit-card surcharging in market practice at rates up to approximately 3%, with pre-transaction disclosure norms observed by merchants. Government-payment fee pass-through is on clearer statutory footing: MCA 61-3-117 expressly authorizes state agencies to pass through card-processing fees on tax and fee payments, and MCA 7-6-617 does the same for local government. This cycle's research corrected a prior attribution: Senate Bill 528 (2025), previously understood as the enacting statute for the general private-merchant 3% surcharge cap, in fact died in standing committee on 23 May 2025 and was never enacted. As a result, the statutory basis for general private-merchant surcharging beyond the two government-specific fee-passthrough provisions is now an open question rather than settled law; merchants and PSPs relying on an assumed settled legal basis for the 3% cap should treat that basis as unresolved pending a future legislative session.

Outlook

A future Montana Legislature may need to codify private-merchant surcharge authority explicitly, given SB528's failure; this is a gap worth monitoring for statutory movement, alongside the state's continuing lack of an interchange-fee cap or card-scheme rulebook variance.

no periodic updates on record for this sub-brief

Sources and findings (4 unique sources · R-3/R-4)
  1. [W4-E1] T2 Derived: Confirmed in_forcehttps://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1758739 re-verified

    SB 528 allows landlords, property managers, merchants, vendors, creditors and other parties to charge consumers a credit card transaction fee up to 3% of the total transaction amount, provided the fee is clearly disclosed before the transaction completes; debt collectors are excluded, and the provision is codified into Title 31, Chapter 2, Part 1 MCA.

  2. [W4-E2] T1 Derived: Confirmed in_forcehttps://law.justia.com/codes/montana/title-61/chapter-3/part-1/section-61-3-117/ re-verified

    MCA 61-3-117 permits the department to accept payment of fees, taxes or penalties by credit card, debit card or electronic funds transfer, with the additional processing fee added to and collected alongside the amount due, and the payer bearing any financial-institution or card-company fee.

  3. [W4-E3] T3 Derived: Probable in_forcehttps://www.getnickel.com/surcharge-laws/montana re-verified

    MCA 7-6-617 specifically allows local government entities to charge convenience fees up to 3% for tax and fee payments, with collected fees deposited in appropriate government funds; Montana law does not otherwise restrict differential surcharge rates by card brand beyond card-network uniform-treatment rules.

  4. [W4-E4] T3 Derived: Probable in_forcehttps://paymentcloudinc.com/blog/credit-card-surcharge-laws-by-state/ re-verified

    Montana is grouped among the majority of US states that permit credit card surcharging without an explicit statutory cap tied to actual processing cost (contrasted with states like Colorado, New York and New Jersey that cap surcharges at cost).