As a result of a legal settlement to resolve claims brought by a group of U.S. merchants, merchants in the U.S. and U.S. territories may add a surcharge to certain credit card transactions. Merchants who choose to surcharge must convert over to a Surcharge Complaint Terminal. That's it!
Now merchants have choice!
1. Speak to our Compliance Specialist
Our experienced professionals are standing by to answer any questions you may have about the Surcharge Program any time of day. To start, simply click on the link below
2. Upgrade to a surcharge terminal
Everything is automated, so you don’t have to worry about calculations or special equipment maintenance. Our terminal will automatically surcharge up to 3.99% at the time of the sale.
3. Start saving money
Start saving towards your company success with credit card processing fees off your list. Use our calculator above to determine the savings amount based on your business annual volume.
- What can I surcharge? In the US, you may only add a surcharge to credit OR PIN debit transactions. You may not add a surcharge fee to signature debit or prepaid cards.
- Is surcharging permitted in my state? There are several states which have enacted bans on surcharging. If you live in one of these states, you will not legally be allowed to surcharge your customers. As of 2016, they were as follows:
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Kansas
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- *For New York a merchant cannot add a percentage to the sale. They must have a cash and credit price published.
- How much can I surcharge? Your surcharge fee may not exceed the cost of accepting the credit card, and may never exceed 4%.
- How do I calculate my surcharge rate for credit cards? Surcharge rates can include the Interchange rate, set network fees associated with processing the transaction, network fees associated with the acceptance of the network’s brand, acquirer set processing fees associated with the transaction , and any other service fees paid to the acquirer via the mechanism of the per transaction merchant discount. Fees that are invoiced separately or not paid via the transaction fees are NOT allowed (example: the cost of a point of sale system or terminal).
- What is the difference between convenience fees and surcharging? A convenience fee should only be charged by merchants that offer their primary payment in person and as a convenience, offers their customers payment options via phone or website (example: at a movie theater, a cardholder typically makes a purchase while present at the theater, but they can make purchases via phone or internet. The theater could apply a convenience fee for cardholders who wish to pay via phone or internet in this instance.) Convenience fees must be a flat fee. Surcharging applies to cards used at the merchant’s business.
- Do I need to make any changes to my hardware? Because the surcharge must be noted on the receipt and the terminal or point of sale system will need to add it to the price of purchase, your terminal or point of sale hardware may require updates. If you have a point of sale system, you will need to work with your reseller or technical support to see if surcharging is supported. At Integrity, we support surcharging through terminal hardware as well, but the software that runs your terminal may need to be updated in order to add the surcharging function.
Act Now
Visa and Mastercard now enable merchants in the United States and U.S. Territories to pass their credit card processing cost to their customers. This is happening right now without you. You are losing valuable fee recovery by not surcharging.
Easy to start
It’s virtually effortless to start taking advantage of the Waive The Fees Surcharge program. All it takes a brief conversation with one of our experienced professionals who will guide through the rest of the simple set up process.
Save money
More and more business are taking advantage of this program everyday. Use the savings to grow your business by spending money where it matters: advertising, employees, equipment, or anything else that improves your bottom line.