ADA, Chatbots, and Compliance-as-a-Feature: Turning Lawsuit Traps into Portfolio Stickiness (with Michael Williams, Clym (https://www.clym.io/)

Cash is disappearing, card rails rule, and “set it and forget it” legal copy is now a liability. In this fast, no-B.S. episode, James Huber and Jeremy Stock sit down with Michael Williams, co-founder of Clym, to unpack the lawsuit vectors quietly hitting merchant websites: ADA accessibility claims, “chatbot wiretapping” suits, and a maze of state privacy rules that change faster than roadmaps. The punchline for payments pros? Compliance is product—it reduces fines, preserves MIDs, and keeps portfolios from churning.

Why this matters to payments teams

ADA goes digital: Website accessibility claims have exploded—think large volumes with five-figure settlements that crush SMBs and create needless merchant attrition.

Wiretapping via chatbots: In two-party consent states, recording or logging live chat without explicit notice is becoming an easy plaintiff’s layup.

Dynamic, not static: What’s compliant in one state might fail in another. A one-size policy either over-frictions conversion or under-protects risk.

Operational drag: When demand letters hit, support, finance, and legal get pulled off mission—right when merchants need them most.

What we cover (built for ISOs, PayFacs, acquirers, ISVs)

The new lawsuit economy: Why “fines without findings” moved from ramps and bathrooms to menus, receipts, and live chat logs—and how automation lets plaintiffs scan thousands of sites a day.

From GDPR to geofencing: How a CFO’s privacy headache birthed a horizontal, website-level compliance stack—accessibility, privacy, “wiretapping,” and geo-controls—designed to update without re-implementation.

Real-time compliance: Continuous scanning that flags risky changes (new widgets, menu updates, policy drift) before a demand letter arrives.

Friction that fits: Show less friction where law allows, more where it’s required—so marketing converts and legal sleeps at night.

Retention math: Portfolio stickiness improves when an ISO bundles easy, merchant-installed compliance at a partner price—versus losing the account after a suit.

Practical playbook you can deploy this quarter

Website attestation at boarding: Add a one-page checklist: ADA accessibility, privacy notice, cookie behavior, chatbot recording disclosure, and where each appears (entry, checkout, receipts).

Two-party consent guardrails: If you operate in consent states, on-page chat notice plus explicit “continue” intent = safer logs.

Geo-aware policies: Serve state-specific privacy/consent text and feature friction based on visitor location; don’t let the strictest state throttle all traffic.

Evidence kits for defense: Time-stamped screenshots of menus, signs, policy pages, chat notices, and a weekly crawl log. Merchants need this before a letter arrives.

Quarterly scans, monthly deltas: Automate site scans; review deltas with merchants; fix drift (plugins, templates, receipt footers) without re-platforming.

Field signals you’ll recognize

“Register-only” disclosures that fail conspicuous-notice tests.

Live chat that asks name/email without recording-consent language.

Menu PDFs that screen readers can’t parse.

Traffic from restricted states hitting prohibited SKUs.

Demand letters starting high, settling mid-five figures—and repeating.


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

Visit Global Legal Law Firm today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

The payments world didn’t just change—it rewired who holds the power. Christopher Dryden, Founding and Managing Partner of Global Legal Law Firm, sits down with Darrin Ginsberg of Super G Capital (https://www.supergcapital.com/) to chart the path from door-to-door ISO sales to e commerce gateways and the rise of embedded payments. Darrin shares how he built one of CSI’s largest offices, why e commerce distribution beat terminal leases, and what he learned buying 50+ portfolios before turning that knowledge into loans secured by residual streams.

We sit down with Darrin Ginsberg of Super G Capital to trace the arc from ISO sales to e commerce gateways to lending against residuals. We unpack how ISVs seized leverage, why banks don’t fund portfolios, and where smart capital actually drives ISO growth.

• early ISO sales tactics and CSI scale
• pivot to online processing and gateways
• seminars and referral partnerships for distribution
• portfolio buying, attrition, and concentration risk
• creating loans collateralized by residuals
• underwriting beyond statements and rates
• ISVs gaining power and shifting rev shares
• why banks won’t underwrite recurring revenue
• MCAs vs structured ISO lending
• best uses of capital, including agent buybacks
• coaching founders on overhead and pay plans
• health journey, resilience, and return to lending
• loan sizes, terms, and how to contact Super G

We get into the mechanics that most outsiders miss. Banks still don’t treat a merchant portfolio as a real asset, so ISOs with strong monthly revenue can’t access traditional credit. Darrin explains how he underwrites beyond the residual report—looking at sales models, stickiness, leases, software integrations, and support—to price risk and structure deals that actually help companies grow. We also unpack the ISV power shift: early rev shares near 10% ballooned to 90% as platforms realized their leverage, with many becoming their own ISOs. If you’re not selling software or embedded into it, you’re fighting uphill.

Capital is only as good as its use. Darrin breaks down high-ROI moves—buying back dormant agent residuals at favorable multiples, funding proven marketing, securing equipment for frictionless installs, and opening scalable recruiting hubs—and warns against draining loans to pay off low-rate mortgages or paper over broken unit economics. We contrast sustainable ISO lending with merchant cash advances that trap businesses in costly cycles. Along the way, Darrin’s health journey adds perspective on resilience and focus, and why fundamentals still win in a market obsessed with headlines.

If you’re an ISO, ISV, or PayFac operator looking to scale with discipline, this conversation gives you a clear playbook on underwriting, attrition, portfolio value, and the smarter ways to deploy growth capital. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review with the one change you’re making to your model this quarter.

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

Visit Global Legal Law Firm today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

The payments game has changed, and winging it is no longer an option. James Huber and Jeremy Stock sit down with Maurice Griefer of MyCPO (https://www.getmycpo.com/) to unpack what it takes to scale a high-risk ecommerce brand without getting crushed by chargebacks, caps, and the new Visa VAMP rules. From the wild energy of early ISO call centers to today’s distributed agent networks, the throughline is clear: honest setup, realistic limits, and proactive dispute prevention beat short-term hacks every time.

We trace the journey from old-school ISO bullpens to today’s agent-driven portfolios, then dig into VAMP, chargebacks, MATCH, and how merchants can scale without getting shut down. Maurice shares why he launched My CPO, the realities of going solo, and how to build a resilient payment stack without losing your shirt.

• evolution of the ISO model and sales ethics
• common setup mistakes that trigger MATCH
• planning limits, caps, and multiple MIDs
• VAMP thresholds, portfolio risk, and fees
• alerts, RDR, and dispute prevention tools
• building SOPs, hiring, and merchant support
• long-term trust versus short-term tactics
• hope is not a payments strategy

Maurice shares what he learned growing up around merchant services and later helping build Maverick, then explains why he launched My CPO to stay close to merchants on the front lines. We break down the mistakes that get good businesses on MATCH—like pushing a second website through an existing MID or accepting bad MCC advice—and show how early discovery, accurate underwriting, and multiple MIDs create resilience when Q4 spikes hit. If you’ve ever had a processor freeze funds after a viral campaign, this conversation gives you the playbook to avoid it.

We also dive into the VAMP era: tighter thresholds, pass-through fees, and hard choices for acquirers balancing revenue against portfolio risk. The solution isn’t magic—use alerts and RDR, improve customer service, fix product pages and disclosures, and plan realistic caps that won’t trip alarms. You will pay either way: in tools and process now, or in penalties and lost processing later. Ethics and transparency still compound: the companies that do it right keep the same team at the booth year after year because trust scales better than churn.

If you’re building in high-risk ecommerce or advising merchants who are, this is your roadmap for sustainable growth. Subscribe, share with a teammate, and leave a review telling us the one change you’ll make to your payment stack this week.

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

Visit Global Legal Law Firm today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Imagine being barred from accepting cards overnight—and no one will tell you why. That’s the reality for many merchants placed on MasterCard’s MATCH list, a risk registry that can sink a business while support teams stay silent. We brought managing partner James Huber and senior associate Bryce Vandemore into the studio to unpack what really moves the needle: skipping the endless email chains and going straight to a well-drafted complaint that forces banks and processors to respond.

We take apart the power dynamics behind the MasterCard MATCH list and explain why a litigation-first strategy now gets merchants faster answers than inquiry letters. We share case patterns, how banks and processors pass the buck, and what it takes to pressure real protocol change.

• why inquiry letters stall while complaints trigger action
• how banks, processors and ISOs split duties and avoid blame
• why MATCH listings cluster by category and tool-driven flags
• the costs, timelines and leverage of litigation versus waiting
• how fines and retroactive rule shifts punish compliant merchants
• the cardholder protection narrative versus merchant reality
• service gaps between cardholder support and merchant silence
• risks of cashless policies concentrating control in card rails
• practical steps to show compliance and push for removal

We walk through the turning points that led us to a sue-first strategy, why it accelerates dialogue, and how these cases are simpler than most people think. The aim isn’t courtroom theatrics; it’s a clear yes or no so a merchant can reopen accounts and stop the cash burn. Along the way, we map the responsibility maze—banks hold the authority, processors run the operations, and both often cite “internal policies” or “ongoing investigations” while providing no reason code. We also call out category-wide crackdowns and retroactive fines, from peptide vendors to weight-loss products, where compliant businesses are swept up in blanket MATCHing with little transparency.

You’ll hear how the “we protect cardholders” message can mask a deeper incentive to protect the networks themselves, creating a stark service gap: cardholders get fast remediation and live help, while merchants hire counsel just to learn what happened. We dive into the rise of cashless policies and what it means when the only way to transact funnels through private rails that can exclude you without a hearing. Our goal is practical and focused—push for protocol change, document compliance, pressure timely reviews, and establish a credible path off MATCH when errors occur.

If you’re a merchant, ISO, or in-house counsel navigating MATCH, this conversation gives you the current playbook: where to start, how to apply pressure, and what outcomes are realistic. Subscribe for more merchant-first insights, share this with a colleague who’s stuck on MATCH, and leave a review with your questions so we can tackle them next.

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

Visit us today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Social Engineering Beats Your Stack: Fix Identity or Get Breached

A single phone call to a help desk shouldn’t sink a global brand—yet it happens. We dig into how social engineering bypasses expensive tools, why identity verification matters at the exact human moments work gets done, and how to measure cyber risk before it becomes tomorrow’s headline. With Peter Segerstrom of Traceless (https://traceless.com/) —a CTO turned advisor who’s audited stacks for acquisitions and built teams from a spare bedroom to scale—we unpack the messy reality of software in payments and fintech: open‑source dependencies, brittle architectures, migrations that stall, and the quiet warts you inherit when you buy code along with revenue.

Christopher Dryden, Esq., traces with Peter how a simple phone call can topple complex systems and why identity verification sits at the heart of modern security. Peter shares a CTO’s view on auditing tech in payments M&A, grading risk, and building Traceless to protect real transactions in real time.

• social engineering as a primary breach vector
• why tech diligence now drives payments and fintech M&A
• lessons from scaling a startup to operational maturity
• auditing architecture, dependencies and maintainability
• open source as foundation and risk surface
• risk grading frameworks buyers can act on
• what cyber risk means for vendors and SaaS reliance
• real‑time identity verification for help desks and workflows
• AI as force multiplier for attackers and defenders

We walk through the practical M&A playbook: inventory the stack, map data flows, assess maintainability, and grade risks so executives can decide what to fix, mitigate, insure, or avoid. Peter explains how a “technical Carfax” reframes negotiations, saving buyers from hidden liabilities and helping sellers prepare cleanly. We also talk vendor risk and why relying on major SaaS platforms can be safer than running your own server—while still demanding least privilege, strong logging, and incident plans that assume someone will eventually pick the wrong link or trust the wrong voice.

Then we widen the lens to Traceless and the identity problem at the core of modern breaches. Real‑time verification for customers, partners, and employees closes the easiest door attackers use: impersonation. From teenager pranksters to nation‑state zero‑days, the threat spectrum is wide, and AI now powers both sides—faster phishing and reconnaissance for attackers, smarter analysis and stress testing for defenders. The takeaway is clear: build verification into business workflows, treat architecture as a living system, and make risk visible with honest grading.

If this conversation helps you think differently about due diligence and operational resilience, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review so more people can find it.

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

Visit Global Legal Law Firm today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Hemp Ban Fallout: How Policy Whiplash Hits Payments, Portfolios, and Merchants.  Hosted by Global Legal Law Firm Managing Partner James Huber and Senior Associate Attorney Bryce Van De Moere

A sudden hemp or cannabinoid ban doesn’t just change SKUs—it detonates risk models, freezes reserves, and scrambles underwriting across entire portfolios. In this episode, we unpack how shifting federal–state rules, card-brand policies, and retailer enforcement create a perfect storm for ISOs, PayFacs, acquirers, and merchants operating anywhere near hemp, CBD, delta-8/10, or “functional” products.

We move past the headlines to the operational reality: MCC assignments that suddenly look “high-risk,” sponsor banks tightening controls, BIN-level pressure driving early enforcement, and offboarding protocols that leave merchants without token access or refund options. If you own portfolio exposure—or sell into these verticals—this conversation gives you a realistic way to protect revenue without inviting regulatory heat.

What’s at stake

Portfolio shock: Rapid policy shifts drive reserve hikes, rolling holds, and frozen payouts that cascade across portfolios.

Regulatory overlap: Farm Bill ambiguity, state AG actions, and network rules collide—leaving merchants compliant in one lane and out of bounds in another.

Processor posture: Heightened KYC/KYB, product-level reviews, and SKU scanning that turn “low-touch” boarding into ongoing surveillance.

Litigation vectors: Deceptive practices claims, labeling variance, age-gating failures, and unfair competition allegations—often leveraged after a payment cutoff.

What we cover (practical and tactical)

Mapping the risk perimeter: Hemp vs CBD vs delta-8/10; how labeling, THC thresholds, and packaging claims change your risk category overnight.

Underwriting changes you’ll actually see: Document asks, site/photo audits, ingredient attestations, SKU-level approvals, and re-verification cadences.

Card-brand rules in practice: What “permitted with restrictions” means for your receipts, disclosures, and refund timelines; when MCC re-codes are necessary.

Offboarding without chaos: Token portability, refund runways, age-verified customer lists, and inventory liquidation strategies that reduce complaints and chargebacks.

Dispute defense in gray zones: Evidence sets that win (COAs, batch IDs, age verification logs, delivery confirmation) and when “refund first” beats “fight first.”

Ops knobs you can turn today: BIN rules, shipping blacklists by state, adult-signature requirements, SKU-specific routing, and refund automation triggers.

Alternative rails, done right: Where ACH/pay-by-bank and wallets help—and where they create new compliance workstreams and reconciliation debt.

Field stories and failure modes

MATCH and mislabeling: How a single mislabeled product can trigger portfolio-wide scrutiny and a five-year hangover if records aren’t corrected fast.

Secret-shopper reality: Entry signage, web product pages, cart disclosures, and line-level receipts—why “register-only” notice is a fine magnet.

Stacked fines and common ownership: How assessments replicate across related entities when documentation and SKU controls are inconsistent.

A usable playbook for payments teams

Re-verify your book: Run a hemp/cannabinoid sweep—SKU lists, labeling, COAs, age gates, shipping lanes, and ad claims.

Board with attestations: Product-category, labeling compliance, age-gating, shipping lanes, and refund policies—signed and renewed on cadence.



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

Visit us today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

From Surcharging To Dual Pricing: How Small Businesses Stay Compliant And Keep Customers

Hidden fees at checkout aren’t just frustrating—they’re risky. We dive straight into the real-world mechanics of pricing programs that merchants use to offset card costs and explain why the lines between surcharging, cash discounting, and dual pricing aren’t as blurry as they seem. The rule of thumb is simple: debit changes everything. We break down how debit restrictions affect convenience retail, why state deceptive trade practices laws can trump card brand tolerance, and how New York and New Jersey have become the practical playbook for clear, compliant disclosure.

Compliance Is A Service: Make Pricing Clear, Protect Margins, Earn Trust

Join Leo Arzumanyan, Esq., and Jeremy Stock, Director of Operations of Global Legal Law Firm host Hahdi Hussein of Supersonic POS (https://supersonicpos.com/) unpack how dual pricing, surcharging, and cash discounting differ, why debit cards change the rules, and how state laws like New York’s 518 make clear shelf labeling non-negotiable. We also explore AI’s real impact on POS, inventory, and L3 data, and why ethical, community-first selling beats poaching through complaints.

• differences between surcharging, cash discounting, and dual pricing
• why debit rules make or break compliance in C-stores
• state deceptive trade practices and junk fee scrutiny
• New York and New Jersey as practical compliance baselines
• shelf labeling, signage, menus, and customer-facing displays
• ethical sales versus secret shopper poaching
• gas stations as the dual pricing template
• AI for inventory ingestion, pricing, and level 3 data
• guardrails for AI to prevent hallucinations and errors
• Supersonic POS capabilities, industries, and US/Canada reach
• roadmap highlights: pay at the pump and e-commerce

From there, we get tactical. You’ll hear how to implement dual pricing the right way: post two prices where buying decisions happen, align shelf labels and menus with receipts, and avoid last-second surprises disguised as “service fees.” We talk through the messy realities of C-stores with thousands of SKUs, the limits of customer-facing displays, and the operational discipline needed to keep labels current. We also confront an ugly trend—agents soft-reporting noncompliant merchants to poach accounts—and offer a better path: fix the issues, earn trust, and grow your book by protecting small businesses from fines.

We also explore how AI is reshaping POS and compliance. From ingesting invoices to auto-build product catalogs to translating receipts into valid Level 3 data and supporting underwriting and website monitoring, AI can make teams faster and more accurate—if you set guardrails to avoid hallucinations. Our guest from Supersonic POS shares what’s live today, what’s next—pay at the pump, e-commerce, age-restricted delivery—and why being processor-agnostic and ISO-friendly matters for long-term partnerships.

If you care about transparent pricing, customer trust, and durable margins, this conversation gives you a clear roadmap. Subscribe, share with a peer who needs a compliance reset, and leave a review with your toughest pricing question so we can tackle it next.

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

Visit us today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

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.**

Visit us today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Taming Chargebacks With Real AI Agentics

Too many merchants breathe easy under legacy chargeback ratios, only to be blindsided when their PSP tightens the screws. We sit down with Ben Herut, co-founder at ChargeFlow, (https://www.chargeflow.io/) to unpack the shift toward post-payment risk and why Visa’s VAMP is forcing acquirers and processors to act earlier—and harder—on portfolio-level exposure. If you rely on card rails for growth, this conversation shows how to protect revenue without clobbering conversions.

We trace Ben Harut’s path from engineering to payments risk and dig into how ChargeFlow uses post-payment data, alerts, and AI-driven workflows to cut chargebacks and protect revenue. We also break down Visa’s VAMP, why PSP thresholds change the game, and how merchants should respond.

• career path from engineering to payments risk
• bank-side underwriting, KYC, fraud and chargebacks
• founding in high-risk and lessons learned
• what ChargeFlow does post-payment and pre-fulfillment
• risk scoring using cross-merchant and outcome data
• handling alerts including TC40 and RDR
• strategies to refund or fight disputes
• AI agents for representment and QA feedback loops
• what VAMP changes for acquirers and PSP thresholds
• portfolio-level risk, BIN pressure, and early enforcement
• why proactive prevention protects processing access

We start with Ben’s journey from electronics engineering to bank-side risk, through launching an EMI in the high-risk space. That experience shapes a practical view: fraud prevention cannot end at authorization. ChargeFlow focuses on the critical window after approval and before fulfillment, where merchants can use post-payment data, cross-merchant signals, and scheme alerts like TC40 and RDR to flag risky orders, request verification, or cancel before losses mount. For digital goods and financial products, we explore how delayed access flows and behavioral patterns unlock smarter decisions than blanket declines.

When disputes hit, evidence wins. Ben explains how AI agents compress months of training into days, assembling compliant, precise representments and feeding results back into models. The goal isn’t buzzword AI; it’s a genetic workflow with guardrails, explainability, and QA loops that cut manual work and raise win rates. We also compare refund-first versus fight-first strategies, and where high-value transactions justify the extra effort.

Then we tackle VAMP’s impact. Even “safe” merchants can trigger portfolio pressure at the BIN level, prompting PSPs to hold payouts, request mitigation plans, or offboard accounts. Understanding tighter PSP thresholds, modeling risk appetite, and staying current with card scheme changes are now core operating skills. Whether you sell physical products or digital access, the path forward is clear: centralize post-payment risk scoring, handle alerts with discipline, and standardize dispute workflows so your team can focus on growth.

If this episode helps clarify your approach to chargebacks, subscribe, share with your ops or finance team, and leave a quick review—what’s your stance today: refund or fight?

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

Visit Global Legal Law Firm today:
https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Surcharging, Dual Pricing, and Debit: The Compliance Traps No One Warns You About

Hidden fees, stacked fines, and a maze of rules—merchant pricing isn’t just a line on a receipt, it’s a legal and operational minefield. We dive into the real differences between dual pricing and cash discounting, why debit transactions should not be treated like credit, and how a simple surcharge can trigger state law violations, card brand penalties, and even deceptive practices claims. Along the way, we share field stories: demand letters over 45 cents, opaque reporting that invites abuse, and fines that stack across separate entities with common ownership.

Global Legal Law Firm team members Christopher Dryden, Leo Arzumanyan, and Jeremy Stock, unpack how dual pricing, cash discounting, and surcharging collide with card brand rules and state laws, and why debit often gets treated unfairly. We share real cases of opaque fines, stacked penalties, and deceptive practices demand letters, then lay out a practical playbook to get compliant and stay there.

• dual pricing versus cash discounting and consumer clarity
• state-by-state rules and conflicting caps
• debit costs and the “actual cost” requirement
• opaque enforcement and reporter abuse
• deceptive practices laws and demand letters
• small merchant burden and stacked fines
• technology limits in POS compliance
• a practical compliance playbook and documentation
• why proactive guidance reduces risk

We walk through a clear framework to cut through the confusion. First, understand what your state actually permits and where those permissions conflict with card brand caps. Second, build a pricing model that reflects “actual cost,” especially for debit, and make sure your disclosures are clear and conspicuous on menus, signs, and receipts. Third, pressure test your POS settings: can it identify card types and apply rules correctly, or will your “simple” setup create non-compliance at scale? Documentation, staff training, and routine audits matter as much as the pricing model itself.

Our goal is to replace guesswork with a practical playbook that reduces risk while maintaining customer trust. Whether you run a single restaurant or manage multiple entities, you’ll learn how to choose between dual pricing and cash discounting, align with the strictest overlapping standard, and prepare for scrutiny from card brands, regulators, and plaintiffs’ attorneys. If you have a story about unclear enforcement or surprising fines, share it with us—we’re collecting real-world cases to push for clarity. If this conversation helps, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it to someone who handles pricing or compliance on your team.

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

Visit us today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm