The simple version

Two shops quote the same two figures for the same item, one for cash and one for card. The gap between them is identical in both shops.

Federal statute has a name for each version of that gap, and the two names are not interchangeable. One of them is defined so that it cannot mean the other.

Which name applies turns on a third definition. The benchmark is the tagged or posted figure, so the tag settles it.

The numbers

• 15 U.S.C. 1602(q) defines "discount" as a reduction made from the regular price, and states that the term as used in section 1666f shall not mean a surcharge (United States Code, Title 15, read via govinfo on October 13, 2026)
• 15 U.S.C. 1602(r) defines "surcharge" as any means of increasing the regular price to a cardholder which is not imposed upon customers paying by cash, check, or similar means, and applies that definition as used in that section and section 1666f (same source)
• 15 U.S.C. 1602(y) defines "regular price" as the tag or posted price charged for the property or service if a single price is tagged or posted (same source)
• 15 U.S.C. 1602(y) continues: where no price is tagged or posted, or where two prices are tagged or posted, the regular price is the price charged when payment is made by use of an open-end credit plan or a credit card (same source)
• 15 U.S.C. 1666f(a): a card issuer may not, by contract or otherwise, prohibit a seller from offering a discount to a cardholder to induce the cardholder to pay by cash, check, or similar means rather than use a credit card (same source)
• 15 U.S.C. 1666f(b): such a discount is not a finance charge if it is offered to all prospective buyers and its availability is disclosed clearly and conspicuously (same source)
• Scope note: this article describes those federal definitions and section 1666f only. It names no state law and no card network rule, and it makes no claim about whether charging more for card payment is allowed in any particular place

Why the tag settles it

Both names are measured against the same benchmark, and that benchmark is defined in the statute rather than left to judgment.

Where a single figure is tagged or posted, that figure is the benchmark. A lower cash figure then sits below it, which is the first of the two names.

Put the lower figure on the tag instead and the card figure sits above the benchmark, which is the second name. Same two numbers, different statutory character, settled by which one is displayed.

The actual math on two tags

Here is an invented example with round figures, not taken from any seller. A fifty dollar item and a two dollar gap.

Tag it at fifty-two and take fifty in cash. The cash figure now sits below the tagged figure.

Tag it at fifty and take fifty-two on a card. Now the card figure sits above the tagged figure. The buyer is two dollars apart either way.

What this means

The two words are not loose synonyms in federal law. One is defined as a reduction below a benchmark and the other as an increase above it.

The benchmark carries a tiebreaker worth knowing. Where nothing is posted, or where two figures are posted, the statute treats the card figure as the benchmark.

Whichever word appears on the sign, the figure to compare is what leaves your account. The word tells you which statutory category you are in, not what you pay.

What this is NOT

This article explains how three federal definitions and one federal provision fit together, specifically 15 U.S.C. 1602(q), 1602(r) and 1602(y) together with 15 U.S.C. 1666f, all read via govinfo on October 13, 2026. It is not legal advice, it is not a statement of any seller's or buyer's rights, and nobody should rely on it in a dispute. It makes no claim that charging more for card payment is either permitted or prohibited anywhere, because the rules that decide that include state statutes and card network agreements, which this article does not reach and names nowhere. The fifty dollar item and two dollar gap are an invented illustration with round figures chosen for clarity, not figures observed at any seller, and no real price appears here. The definitions and the tiebreaker described are the statute's own words, quoted in The numbers above rather than paraphrased. The article reads the currently published text of those provisions and does not survey how they have been interpreted or applied. This is not a political endorsement or criticism of anyone.

Sources

• United States Code, Title 15, Section 1602, definitions, subsections (q), (r) and (y), read via govinfo on October 13, 2026
• United States Code, Title 15, Section 1666f, "Inducements to cardholders by sellers of cash discounts for payments by cash, check or similar means; finance charge for sales transactions involving cash discounts," read via govinfo on October 13, 2026