Credit card processing and merchant services in Montgomery, AL

The Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate puts Montgomery at 195,300 residents, down 2.6% from its April 2020 estimates base of 200,580. That leaves it about 600 people behind Birmingham, which the Bureau estimated at 195,893 for the same date.

Before your first sale, deal with the city. The City of Montgomery's License and Revenue Division handles business licenses and sales tax numbers, and it publishes its own city sales tax form. The Alabama Department of Revenue says it administers more than 200 city and county sales taxes but not all of them. Ask the division which local taxes you'll file with the city and which go through the state, and set up your bookkeeping for both before the first return is due.

Your exact address matters too. The Department's rate and code explanations say a police jurisdiction rate is typically one-half the regular tax rate, so confirm whether your location is inside the city limits or in a police jurisdiction before you program a register. The same page notes that the City of Montgomery levies an additional rate on short-term rentals of certain motor vehicles, which matters if you rent out cars or trucks.

Alabama's general state rate is 4%, and the local shares come on top of it. On card fees, we've found no Alabama law capping surcharges, so Visa's 3% and Mastercard's 4% caps apply, debit and prepaid cards are excluded, and Visa wants 30 days' notice to your acquirer. Our Alabama page has the details. Before you add a fee, find out what interchange-plus pricing would do to your costs. A free statement review gives you that number.