There`s another caveat you should keep in mind: you can`t charge extra on debit or prepaid cards, but only on credit cards. Even transactions processed via signature fees (often referred to as “execution of a card as credit”) are still fees and therefore exempt from top-up. This is due to the restrictions introduced by the Durbin amendment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Durbin amendment deals specifically with debit transactions, including the introduction of a cap on interchange fees. (It`s worth mentioning that you won`t see these savings if your processor doesn`t support direct debit or if you have a qualified/tiered pricing plan.) If you plan to add extras, you`ll need to post a notification at the entrance to your store informing customers that you`re adding a surcharge to all credit transactions. You will also need to post a notification at your point of sale (your registry). The notice must include the rate you charge, as well as a comment that it does not exceed your own processing fee. With the rule that surcharges can`t exceed 4%, how can local government agencies get away with charging flat-rate “extras,” such as $10 for all police quotes? In future cases, this may be less than 4%, but in other cases much more. Aren`t they bound by the same standards? Merchants may charge a brand-level surcharge or a product-level surcharge on Mastercard credit cards. In the case of a brand-level surcharge, the merchant charges the same percentage to all Mastercard credit cards. A product-level surcharge is a surcharge in which the merchant charges a surcharge for a particular Mastercard credit product. In both cases, the amount of the surcharge is subject to an upper limit.

This shows that if it says “debit” on the card, you cannot charge a credit card surcharge, even if the customer processes it with a credit card instead of entering a PIN. The settlement of the indemnity begins on page 378. I hope this helps! I work for credit card brokers. If we have information about an ISO company that does not provide 30-day notification of card brands and charges 4% on all cards, including debit cards, how can we submit the information to Visa/MC? (c) The Consumer Credit Officer has exclusive responsibility for the application of this section. Declared unconstitutional in Italian Colors Restaurant et al. v. Harris, 99 F.Supp.3d 1199 (E.D.Cal. 2015). a) No retailer may charge a surcharge on a sale, service or rental transaction with a consumer of a cardholder who chooses to use a credit card instead of a payment in cash, cheque or similar. However, a retailer may offer discounts to arrange payment in cash, by check or otherwise that does not use a credit card, provided that the discount is offered to all potential buyers.

(b) any Retailer who intentionally violates this Section by imposing a surcharge on a Cardholder who chooses to use a credit card and fails to pay that amount to the Cardholder by registered mail to the Cardholder within 30 days of a written request from the Cardholder to the Merchant will be liable to the Cardholder for three times the amount; with which the actual damage is assessed. The cardholder also has the right to reimburse reasonable attorneys` fees and costs incurred in connection with the lawsuit. A plea under this Section may be raised in small claims court if it does not exceed the jurisdiction of that court or another appropriate court. (c) a consumer is not deemed to have chosen to use a credit card instead of another means of payment for the purposes of this Division in connection with a transaction with a retailer if that retailer accepts only credit cards as a means of payment for an order placed by a consumer by telephone and only cash is accepted at a public store or other establishment of the same retailer. (d) Fees for third-party credit card guarantee services added to the price charged by the retailer in the case of cash payment shall be considered surcharges within the meaning of this section, even if they are payable directly to the third party or are charged separately. (e) The legislator intends to promote the efficient functioning of the free market and to protect consumers from misleading price increases for goods and services by prohibiting credit card surcharges and encouraging the possibility of discounts by retailers who wish to offer a lower price for goods and services purchased through a non-credit card method of payment. (f) This section does not apply to credit or debit card payment charges charged by an electricity, gas or water company and approved by the Utilities Commission in accordance with section 755 of the Public Utilities Code. I can`t find any details on what to do in Kansas if you suspect you`re paying an illegal surcharge, but I do know that in general, if a company is caught violating Card Association rules or local laws, their merchant account could potentially be terminated so they can`t accept cards. unless it finds another processor ready to adopt them.

(Sure enough, this means you`ll have to check in in person each month instead of paying online.) If you`re really worried, talk to a local consumer protection group or the state attorney general and see if there`s anything that can be done. But otherwise, as a co-consumer, I advise you to always pay with ACH/bank accounts where you can! As for the second question – what you paid was probably a convenience fee, not a supplement. These are subject to completely different rules and laws. The problem is that while supplements are prohibited, convenience fees are not. As a roommate in Kansas, I paid a lot of convenience fees for online payments (especially for utility bills). My apartment complex charges a convenience fee for credit transactions and uses a separate processor to accept electronic checks. All merchants who decide to implement markups in their store must follow a set of rules defined by the major credit card brands. Although some of these marks have small variations in these rules between them, the general rules for the introduction of a surcharge are relatively universal. Below, we`ll break down the most common of these rules. Following a preliminary court settlement between retailers, payment networks and nine major credit card issuers, retailers are now allowed to start charging customers extra to cover the cost of merchant fees when customers use their credit cards for their purchases. Eleven states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas — and Puerto Rico have laws that prohibit merchants from charging additional fees to consumers for credit card transactions. Minnesota prohibits a seller of goods or services who establishes their own customer credit card and is responsible for charging a surcharge to a buyer who chooses to use that credit card instead of paying in cash, by check, or similar means.

New Jersey does not prohibit the practice of charging extra. I hope this helps! www.mastercard.us/en-us/business/overview/support/merchant-surcharge-rules.html Once you have read and understood the basic rules that affect the load, there is still a lot to do. You must inform your merchant acquirer and the relevant card networks that you intend to impose a surcharge. Finally, you need to make sure that your point of sale is able to record the extras to meet the requirements of the card network. However, you need to weigh this small profit against the potential loss of profit if you turn away certain customers based on supplements. I was wondering if a surcharge could be applied to some types of transactions but not to others. In other words, if you charge extra for one thing, do you have to charge it for everything? I work in a kindergarten. We should start by paying extra to credit card users at school. We will use a credit card processing company called CardX. Are they responsible for informing the credit card company of our intention? Has anyone used them? It seems more complicated than they made it appear on the phone. After a decade of fighting in court, merchants involved in the lawsuit have reached an expensive settlement with card networks — and more importantly, the lawsuit has laid the groundwork for merchants to cover some of the costs associated with credit card transactions.

Card associations changed their rules as a result of the lawsuit. We have a local restaurant that charges a flat fee of 69 cents on credit and debit cards. These fees are charged regardless of the total amount. This can equate to a fee of 8 to 10% on a small meal. Is it allowed or legal? When we talk about “If your company operates in one of these states, it is illegal to charge a surcharge”, it is the state in which I ship the product or the state where I will send an invoice, or the state of my warehouse or the state of the back office. These are all 4 different states Hey Phil, I work with a company that has a program that allows you to pass on or pass on all card fees to your customers. Card Payment Solutions is based in Florence, SC, and we would be happy to explain how this can benefit your business. You can contact someone through the website, or you can also contact me at chad.cpsolutions@gmail.com or by phone at (864) 293-9733. I don`t know what part of SC you have locations, but I`m based outside of Greenville and would love to meet someone if they`re in the northern part of the state.

I hope this helps! You don`t have to be wary! Some restaurants could easily have that effective price of 4%, depending on the type of cards they process and their supplier. I have a Visa debit card. The merchant charges extra on my card and says they save it as a credit note and not as a charge.