Dual Pricing v Cash Discount: Surcharging Mistakes That Trigger Fines | with Supersonic POS | PEP079

Cash Discount ≠ Compliance: Dual Pricing, Debit, and the MATCH Hangover (with Mahdi Hussein, Supersonic POS) (https://supersonicpos.com/)

Ever been told “it’s just a cash discount” only to have a secret shopper’s photos tell a different story? This episode strips the buzzwords down to the brass tacks payments professionals actually live with: the legal and operational differences between dual pricing, cash discounting, and surcharging—and why debit sits in its own lane under Durbin whether your signage acknowledges it or not.

Our guest Mahdi Hussein (Supersonic POS) joins Leo Arzumanyan, Esq., and Jeremy Stock of Global Legal Law Firm, in-studio to connect the dots from family-run C-stores, to building Petro Outlet for cloud price changes and pump-side loyalty, to launching a POS designed to make modern compliance operationally repeatable across everyday merchants.

What really happens when compliance meets the real world

The “cash discount” claim vs. the camera roll: What auditors and secret shoppers actually capture—entry signs, shelf/menu pricing, register signage, and line-level receipts—and why “register-only disclosure” fails.

Debit is not credit: How Durbin and network rules isolate debit from surcharging, common BIN-misclassification pitfalls, and the terminal settings that prevent frontline overrides.

Dual pricing done correctly: Two posted prices everywhere the customer sees a price, consistent with receipts and POS programming—not a fee bolted on at checkout.

Cash discounting done correctly: Posted card price as the standard price; true discount for cash; disclosure where it matters (not just fine print).

MATCH, fraud, and the five-year shadow

Mahdi walks through a hard lesson: a fraudulent merchant account opened in his company’s name triggered a MATCH placement that shut processing down overnight. We unpack:

The paper trail that fixes records (police reports, identity theft affidavits, ISO/acquirer correspondence) and why diligence must be relentless.

How some fraudsters re-file as soon as the five-year term expires, and what monitoring and controls you need to detect and preempt repeat abuse.

Why automated notices and “we’re looking into it” updates don’t undo operational damage when acceptance disappears for weeks.

The new risk stack: compliance risk beside credit risk

State law curveballs vs. network rules: Examples like Minnesota’s higher caps or New York’s two-tier requirements colliding with Visa/Mastercard caps and signage expectations. The default: operate to the strictest overlapping standard.

Fines that stack and escalate: How separate entities with common ownership see assessments multiply; why remediation lag can push penalties from $1,000 to $5,000+ rapidly.

Opaque reporting and “enforcement by screenshot”: How incomplete data invites abuse, and what evidence packets actually de-escalate a case.

POS and program design that actually holds up

BIN-aware configuration: Enforce debit exclusion, hard-cap surcharge percentages by brand, and fail-safe rules that a clerk can’t override.

Receipt and signage automation: Default, non-deletable receipt footers; location-specific sign templates tied to the active pricing model; menu/shelf labels that reflect cash vs. card pricing.

Cost-of-acceptance discipline: Align surcharge/dual pricing amounts to provable acceptance costs; audit monthly so amounts don’t drift out of compliance.



**Matters discussed are all opinions and do not constitute legal advice. All events or likeness to real people and events is a coincidence.**

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A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm