thread Re: How to add card processing fees to customers charge. in Payments Troubleshooting

How to add card processing fees to customers charge.

DennisB1 — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 08:58:19 GMT

I note that Square processing fees are eating into net collections a fair amount.

Is there a way to add this charge to the customer's charge, similar to the way the movie theaters charge me a "convenience fee" for me to use my card?

Thanks,

Re: How to add card processing fees to customers charge.

TheRealChipA — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 17:17:36 GMT

Hi @DennisB1. I’ll answer this with a cautious “there is a way.” If you are sure that your state allows “surcharging,” and if you follow all of Visa’s and Mastercard’s rules about when it is allowed, customer notification, limits, etc, then you can set up Service Charges in your account & settings area of your dashboard.

Here’s an article that I ran across recently about the fact that Visa (for one) is cracking down on sellers who do this incorrectly, and fining them or even cancelling their card processing privileges for violations. It’s a long article, but worth the read. It seems that one of the more common violations is surcharging debit cards, which seems to be prohibited everywhere at all times. Anyway, if Visa is doing “secret shopper” checks, I’m betting that the others are, too. I mention this only as a word to the wise.

There are better alternatives than surcharging, in my opinion. We’ve always just added 3% to our cost-of-goods calculations. Yes, even cash customers pay it, but that’s no different that “onion haters” paying for onions that they ask to be left off their burgers. But by adding it in to the cost calculations, customers aren’t being slapped in the face with the extra fee lines — the price is the price, period. I know some sellers who offer cash discounts if those are allowed in their states, and if they follow card-issuer rules.

Re: How to add card processing fees to customers charge.

JK_Fiber_Art — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 16:45:43 GMT

Hi DennisB1,

This is a common question - it's called a surcharge - you may want to look at this info first before implementing any addition charges. (From our experience, pricing our items accordingly allows us to cover all of our costs and make a profit without adding additional fees.)

Re: How to add card processing fees to customers charge.

TheRealChipA — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 16:47:58 GMT

I’m glad you posted that, @JK_Fiber_Art! I tried to find that Help Article and could not. Thanks!