When using integrated credit card processing, POSitive allows you to automatically add a surcharge to payments made with a credit card, but there are rules and procedures you must follow:
• | A surcharge can not be added to Debit card purchases. |
• | Some business and government issued credit cards should not have a surcharge added. |
• | There is a special return procedure that must be followed with sales that included a credit card surcharge. |
• | Surcharges will not automatically applied to AR payments, so you must follow a special procedure if you with to apply them. |
Important Information About Credit Card Surcharges
A payment card surcharge, also known as a checkout fee, is an additional fee that a merchant adds to a consumer's bill when he or she uses a card for payment.
Before you consider whether or not surcharging is right for your business, start by familiarizing yourself with some essential information — the difference between checkout fees (surcharges) and convenience fees, the states where surcharging is currently banned, and the procedures you must follow in order to start surcharging.
U.S. merchants that intend to surcharge are required to:
• Notify Visa, Mastercard and your acquirer at least 30 days in advance of beginning to surcharge; links for notification forms for Visa and Mastercard are listed below.
• Limit surcharging to credit cards only (no surcharging debit and prepaid cards) and limit the amount to your merchant discount rate for the applicable credit card surcharged, or no more than 4%.
• Disclose the surcharge as a merchant fee and clearly alert consumers to the practice at the point of sale – both in store and online – and on every receipt. Merchants should also consider whether they comply with all applicable state or federal laws. Currently, 10 U.S. states have surcharging restrictions including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.
• Surcharges may be subject to state sales tax.
Contact Information:
Mastercard Surcharge Information
Worldpay Integrated Payments Support: 800.846.4472
(See: Surcharge setup instructions)