What is a Surcharge?

A payment card surcharge, also known as a checkout fee, is an additional fee that U.S. merchants can add to a consumer's bill when he or she uses a credit card for payment, which matches the merchant's interchange fees. 

• The rate of the fee must not exceed your cost of credit acceptance that you pay your acquirer for the credit card or the 3% Maximum Surcharge Cap (limited by Visa).
• The charge should be excluded from non-credit card payments.
• Surcharges are prohibited in the following 5 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts.
• Surcharges can be added to credit card transactions after notifying credit card companies, such as Visa, MasterCard, and Discover, at least 30 days prior to implementing the surcharge.
• Surcharges must be disclosed to consumers, both at the point of entry (through signage) and at the point of sale (on the receipt). Merchants should refer to the specific rules for additional consumer disclosure obligations.
• Examples of disclosure signage:

Notifying Credit Card Companies

• Merchants can submit a notification form to Visa at: www.visa.com/merchantsurcharging
• Merchants can submit a notification to MasterCard at: https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/merchants.html
• Merchants can submit a notification to Discover at: https://www.discoversurcharge.com/
• Merchants do not need to notify American Express.  

Using Surcharges on RetailTime POS

Overview:

• In Merchant Fee Programs app in Back Office, create the Surcharge (name and rate) and then add it to your store. 

• The created Surcharge will automatically be added to the customer's order upon credit card payments and its info will appear on the receipt.

• The Surcharge data will also appear in the Merchant Fee Programs Report and Z Report. 

 1. Configure Surcharges in Back Office

1. Go to Apps--->Merchant Fee Programs in the left navigation menu.
   

2. In the upper right corner, select New--->New Surcharge.

4. Enter Surcharge Name and Surcharge Rate. Select the blue switch to choose between either a flat fee or percentage (Rate must not exceed 3%).

5. From the Payment Method drop-down, select Credit Card. (Note: Currently, you need to have a prior authorization from all credit card brands, including Visa and MasterCard to utilize surcharges.)

6. Ensure that Is Active is selected and click Done. 

7. Go to Settings--->Company Settings--->Merchant Fee tab.

8. Select the surcharge you want to use from the drop-down list.

9. Select Done.

• Follow steps 7-9 for each store, with selecting Store Settings from the Settings menu. 

2. Apply Surcharge on POS

1. Log in to POS.

2. Select Synchronize from the left navigation menu or the top right of the page.

3. Select any product(s) and the system will display the surcharge fee that you set up automatically.

4. Select a payment method.

• When surcharges are added to a store in Back Office, Signature Debit Cards appears as an additional payment option and Debit Card is renamed to PIN Debit Card (if debit cards are enabled in Back Office Settings). When a customer uses a signature debit card, select that option as opposed to Credit Card. This needs to be done because surcharges are not allowed to be added to Signature Debit Cards (only Credit Cards). 

• If a customer pays via Credit Card, RetailTime POS will add a surcharge fee to the order price by default.

• If other payment types are used, such as Cash, PIN Debit, Signature Debit, EBT, or External Payment, the surcharge will not be added and the transaction will be processed as usual.

5. Once processed, select to either print or email the receipt. This receipt will include the surcharge, if the fee was added.

Receipt from Credit Card Payment

Receipt from Non-Credit Card Payment: 

3. Reporting

• After processing surcharges, the system will display the info in the Merchant Fee Programs Report and Z Report.

• Disclaimer: The above is for information purposes only. Rules and requirements for each credit card brand may differ. Please review their specific rules and/or contact them for greater detail concerning those requirements. RetailTime is not liable for any non-compliance with rules and regulations arising out of your use of this program.