[FAQ] Passing Square fees to customers

[#1]

Surcharges and cash discounting are two different pricing strategies that businesses use to adjust their prices and manage their costs. 

Credit card surcharges are additional fees or charges added to a transaction, usually to cover the cost of processing payments.

There are regulations (both by card networks and through country/local regulations) around surcharges. Some examples include:

• Surcharge can only be applied to credit cards – debit cards, gift cards and prepaid cards are excluded
• Surcharge should not exceed the merchant cost of acceptance, capped at 3%
• Signage must disclose the surcharge at the point of entry, the point of sale or transaction, and on the receipt.
• Some states do not allow surcharge

Cash discounting is an alternative method of offsetting credit card processing fees and there are no legal restrictions on cash discounting. A cash discount is when a merchant offers a discounted price to a customer if they choose to pay with physical cash for an item or service as opposed to a credit card. This can result in larger numbers of cash transactions and lower fees for merchants.

Implementing cash discounts

Steps for implementing a cash discount program:

1. Update pricing: Increase your prices by the effective rate calculated in Step 1.
   Let’s say that you pay an average of 2.6% for card purchases, that means you should add 2.6% to your posted prices. Those paying in cash will have that 2.6% percent deducted from their total since the transaction does not incur any processing fees. So, a $10 item becomes $10.26 after you raise the price by 2.6%, and the cash price at the register reverses back to $10. See below on how to use Square’s Export and Import tools on Item Library to make mass changes.
2. Update signage and marketing materials: You should update signage and marketing materials to inform customers about the cash discount program. 
3. You will also need to create a discount through Square Dashboard for paying with cash. Name it “cash discount” (or any other relevant name that indicates to the buyer that this discount was applied for cash payments) and enter the percent amount of discount you wish to offer for paying with cash. When a customer is purchasing using cash (and it must be cash, not a credit card or debit card), you will apply the discount you created previously to their purchase. See example below:
   
   
4. Train staff: It's important to train staff on how the cash discount program works and how to communicate the program to customers. Staff should be prepared to explain the program to customers who may have questions or concerns.

Using Square’s export and import tools on item library 

You can use the “Export” feature in Square item library to download your entire item library (in Excel or CSV) and make your price edits in a spreadsheet tool of your choosing (Eg. Excel, Google Sheets, etc.). After updating the prices, you can use the “Import” feature to overwrite the existing prices in Square Item Library with the newly adjusted prices.

Export your library

From within the Square Item Library, select the “Export Library” option from the “Actions” dropdown. You may “Export to Excel” (recommended) which will create a download suitable for most spreadsheets like Excel, Google Sheets, etc.

After you have exported your item library, you can open it in a spreadsheet of your choosing, update the prices, and save the new spreadsheet. 

Import updated library

From within the Square Item Library, select the “Import Library” option from the “Actions” dropdown. 

Select your updated spreadsheet from the modal. If you wish to replace your existing item library with the upload, toggle on “Replace existing item library” (use caution if you choose this method!)

Confirm that that each Square item attribute is matched to the correct column in your import file:

After confirming, your Square item library will update to match your uploaded spreadsheet:

Potential drawbacks of cash discounting

Cash discounting results in more expensive prices but many of your customers may not realize the price change. And even if they do, it is an easily explainable and viable reason to do so. Customers are also still penalized for paying with cards, potentially negatively impacting customer experience.

[TheRealChipA]

@jean_sq I kind of figured this post would be coming soon.  I appreciate it very much, if for no other reason than it will make the job of communicating this easier and clearer when the question comes up (again and again) in the Community.  

If I may, I’ll add one other important point.  Increasing prices to cover 2.6% (the normal processing fee) will not cover the swipe fees.  If sellers want to come up with their true fee average, including swipe fees, they can look at the last year’s total fees paid to Square and divide it by the last year’s total card sales.  For my shop, that came out to be 3.4%.  This is because, as an ice cream shop, I have lots of one-item sales so my effective fees are higher because of that.  Sellers like me will want to be sure to take that into consideration.  They can find those two numbers (Fees paid and Total Collected) on the Payment Methods report in their online dashboard.

Otherwise, I’m glad that you posted this and stated Square’s view on card fee surcharges.  Thank you.

[TheRealChipA]

@jean_sq One question. Will there be a way, for sellers who choose to add surcharges, to indicate that a surcharge should not be applied to debit/gift/prepaid cards?

I ask since we never see the cards for online sales. And if we set up surcharges to automatically apply service charges online, there is the danger of debit cards being erroneously surcharged.

If I need to, I’ll make a feature request. But I don’t want to do so if it’s not needed. 

Thanks! 

[JK_Fiber_Art]

In reply to both @jean_sq and @TheRealChipA and others - for the life of me I cannot understand why some sellers seem to feel that the customer has to pay the CC transaction fees.  This logic simply makes no sense - how does one prioritize that a particular cost such as the processing fee is so different from other costs - could it be that the seller's pricing is not quite right or what's the real reason.  To date, no one has ever posted their exact reasons for the additional costs.  The processing fee is no surprise as it's part of doing business yet some sellers seem to be amazed that they have to pay a fee for the processing of the transaction.

For example, consider shipping - there are boxes, padding, tape, labels, labor to put it all together and then ship - does anyone ever see that breakdown?  Then there's the cost of the item itself - be it handmade or all ready made plus packaging, displaying, marketing, etc., - does anyone ever see that breakdown?

What about selling from a physical location - there's other costs like rent, taxes, insurance, or HOA dues, or trash removal, or internet access or supplies like bags, special packaging, business licenses, etc., and I could go on.  Not to mention my wages.  Oh yes, I also have a website - consider that additional cost and time.

If I itemized every cost for whatever I sell and make - perhaps I should add a separate charge for each individual cost.  Don't think that would work.

Hopefully you see my point - one has to price their items, products and/or services accordingly so all of these expenses are included in the bottom line price.  So why does making the customer just pay the transaction processing fees seem to be a priority for some sellers ??

Hey just my thoughts of course but, I like to keep my customers happy and hopefully make a profit too.  (Thought I would stir the pot 😊.)

jk

jk

[TheRealChipA]

@JK_Fiber_Art I’m going to reply to that via PM.  I definitely do not want to turn this FAQ into a shouting match, and if I say what I really feel it will become exactly that.  Ha.  BOLO for a PM from me shortly.

[TheRealChipA]

@JK_Fiber_Art Preview… I agree with you wholeheartedly… 😉

[TCSlaguna]

@jean_sq  Thank you so much for the informative post, letting us know we can do cash discounts, and providing instructions on how to create a cash discount. This is definitely something we will look into implementing.  

[PartyManiaMD]

To take it one step further a 3.4% price increase won't exactly cover the processing fees because that 3.4% price increase is now subject to the processing fees it was designed to cover.

On average I consider the processing fee "5%" so that way I'm pleasantly surprised when our actual processing is less than that.

At the end of the day it's insane the percentage the card processing companies are taking compared to what they were regulated to take.

"The Board's Regulation II provides that an issuer subject to the interchange fee standard (a covered issuer) may not receive, for any electronic debit transaction, an interchange fee that exceeds $0.21 plus 0.05 percent multiplied by the value of the transaction, plus a $0.01 fraud-prevention adjustment, if eligible."

https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/regii-average-interchange-fee.htm#:~:text=The%20Board'....

Combined with advances in processing technology as well as widespread access there is no reason the processing fee should be as high as it is.

I find Square competitive but that's being competitive in an industry that is straight up gouging merchants.

I had to do a double take at a restaurant the other day because they were offering a 10% cash discount. At that point they aren't just trying to avoid the processing fee....

[FlightTeam]

If we raise our prices 2.6%, then wouldn't the credit card charge go up too? 

Let's say I have 50,000 a month in credit card sales.  That's $1300 in credit card fees. So I raise my prices 2.6% to cover it. The next month, if I don't lose sales due to mad customers, I will have $51,300 in sales. The credit card fees will be $1334. Well played, Square.

[TheRealChipA]

Yes, fees will go up ever so slightly.  That’s why you should add a little more to it, to take that into account and to cover swipe fees as well.  I round mine up to a little less than 4% in my cost of goods calculations to be safe.  In the end, I always pocket a little extra because of cash customers (20% of my sales).

Otherwise, @FlightTeam, this is not Square’s problem at all.  The only reason that Square posted this was to help sellers who want to pass fees onto their customers figure out how to stay legal and within the card issuer guidelines so that no one loses their card processing privileges.  The method Jean gave above is exactly the same method that PayPal, Clover and everyone else gives to their sellers.

Snark is not going to help anything.  No one is forcing you to pass on fees to customers and if you are sure that you will lose lots of customers because you raise prices then that is a decision you have to make.  It’s no different from the decisions we all make when we decide how much we are going to sell our goods and services for.  Only you know your customers and only you can decide how they might react.  I’ve included card fees in my prices for 11 years now and it is a fact that no one has ever noticed or cared.

[TheRealChipA]

@PartyManiaMD LOL.  I’ve seen those 10% cash discounts as well.  Once I saw a 15% one!  Since those sellers know good and well that they would be in violation of regulations if they did a 15% surcharge, they realize that this loophole allows them to be as greedy as they think they can get away with!  Having said that, it is now my policy to leave when I see surcharge signs at all.  To me, that is the lazy way out of just pricing their products correctly in the first place.  I also refuse to patronize businesses who put up the signs guilting card paying customers.  I’m sure you can guess why.  LOL. I walked out of one of the top 10 restaurants here because of that.  They went out of business a little over a year after they started displaying that sign.  Hmmmm…..

[PartyManiaMD]

Eh, they were probably on their way out and getting desperate... Our retail corridor is NOT doing great right now and we're in one of the "richest" counties in the US.

Businesses are closing left and right (I'm thinking of calling it after this year) and margins are getting squeezed left and right.

This time next year I might be promoted to a customer as it's just not worth being in retail when the volume is still half of what it was pre-covid

[TheRealChipA]

That’s probably why I quit feeling guilty or worrying about raising my prices.  If someone wants to go to the other ice cream shop in town that offers 88 flavors of soft serve, 50+ toppings and all sorts of ways to make it because they can find a better price at that ice cream shop (which doesn’t exist) then more power to them!  I price my products to pay the bills, pay my employees a good, solid wage and pay me some, too.  I won’t apologize for that!

Ok, we are messing up Jean’s FAQ with all of this banter!

[DSander]

If you do the cash discount method instead of CC fee, then it will go down.

[DSander]

I suggest just not doing this. Any fees added are usually taken as a negative. Not many people carry cash so seeing a cash discount offered just makes someone feel they could've got a better deal had they known prior. Just charge what it takes to be profitable. And yes, CC processing fees are way too high for a digital cash transaction. With todays tech, we should be able to break free from their grip.

[Tamyra_Paunchy]

Same! I sell bottled teas and lemonades. I was so excited to just have sales at some point, that I was pricing them based on what 'sounded' good/reasonable and what I saw when I went into retail stores as the average 12-ounce beverage price. I very quickly realized most of the sales and orders I was filling were either barely breaking even or worse - done at a loss! I couldn't cover payroll, fell behind on rent, and at some point had so many orders online that I was almost 3 months behind filling them simply because I didn't even have money to buy labels and bottles let alone fruit to process them. I raised my price and eventually came to grips with the fact that as a small business not able to buy bottles 1M at a time, I must price according to my cost of goods or fail. That meant losing out on some sales, yes. BUT, to your point, at least now I can cover bills better and turn a profit, which is the whole point of being in business in the first place. People who understand that and see the value or uniqueness of what you're offering will still continue to shop with you. Still not paying myself but someday... someday. 🙂 

[Stacelyn24]

This was good information for those who may choose to go this route.  We do not charge additional fees to our clients for using their credit cards.  We encourage "Card On File'" to make the checking out process smooth and faster...especially since we work on appointments.  We eat those fees lol 🙂

We don't want it to seem we're price gouging the clients and having a lot of cash on hand with technicians all working different shifts...adds on more responsibility as well.

[Bybypoo]

Because we can keep our prices at the low level while the credit card fees and square fees creep up.  

By offering free payment options as well as convenience fees for use of credit cards that allows consumers make their own decisions on how they want to pay. Just raising prices is making that decision for clients.  I prefer to allow them to take control and make the decision themselves.  Everyone likes options.  

[skateman81]

Is it ok (legal or otherwise) to raise the prices 3% and offer a 3% discount even though square charges 2.6%?  The reason I ask is because we do not use dimes, nickels, pennies in our cash drawers.  Our prices are set where with sales tax added, that items are on a quarter amount (.00, .25, .50, .75).   If I raise everything 2.6% and then offer the same discount, when there are multiple items the system rounds the decimal point up or down and then I end up with amounts that aren't on the quarter dollar.  

[skateman81]

Nevermind, its going to do that anyways no matter the discount.   Something I will have to deal with I guess.  But I would still like to know if its ok to offer a greater cash discount than 2.6% such as 3% or 4%.

[TheRealChipA]

Hi @skateman81.  Since you are not surcharging credit card customers, you can set your discounts as you wish.  It all depends on just how much you prefer cash over card payments.  Of course, don’t forget that there is a balancing act here as far as public perception goes.  In my business (a soft serve shop) I have chosen not to complicate things with cash discounts.  My prices reflect my actual card processing fees vs. total sales for the previous year, and everyone pays the same.  I’ve done that for 11 years now and no one has said a thing.  Of course, it helps that my check averages are obviously lower than many businesses so no one notices that extra “bump” at all.

[skateman81]

I think we have decided NOT to do cash discounts because it is such a disruption to our flow.  So we are going to adjust pricing to reflect that.  My customers will probably complain about the initial bump but they will get over it.  We are already cheaper than everyone else in our area with similar products.  Thanks for your input! 

[TheRealChipA]

I have to agree with that logic.  After all you price products based on a variety of factors.  For example, if you sold a sandwich you’d price it based upon the component parts of meat, bread, garnishes, sauces, etc.  Just because a person asks to hold the sauce, you don’t discount the price of the sandwich.  That would be a nightmare!  This is no different, in reality!  

Anyway, I’m beating a dead horse.  LOL.  I’m happy you’ve found your sweet business spot with this.

[JayceBaudry]

Good evening, 

We received couples day ago an email from square telling us to stop using the service charge to apply a surcharge to customer paying with credit card, treating us to remove access to the service charge option. 

They talk about  payment networks have recently updated their rules around credit card surcharging ? 

What are those update ? 

We are in a state (NJ) who permit us to surcharge credit card, we registered with the credit card company, we display notice to the customer. 

Their advice to not using the service charge is to apply a cash discount or to raise our pricing.

It is not acceptable as it force us to put a higher price on all of our items which will not make the customer want to buy as much. 

Incorporate the surcharge in the original pricing is not fair for all of the customer paying with cash or debit card to have to pay for the other customers using credit card. 

If square doesn't want us to use service charge for it as they were advising before to do so for credit card surcharge they need to give us a realistic alternative. 

Please Square advise 

[Candlestore]

@JayceBaudry ;

Not sure what you are charging as a rate for using a Credit Card but Visa limits you to 3% and I am not sure if other Brands have higher or lower limits.  

Here from a google search for Visa Surcharge fees:

What are the new Visa surcharge rules for 2023?

Visa Reduces Its Merchant Surcharge Cap to 3% Effective April 15, 2023: Merchants Should Ensure They Are in Compliance to Avoid Fines, Fees and Litigation.Jul 24, 2023

Do Discover, AMEX, Master Card have similar or lower / Higher caps?

Now since you are in NJ where it is legal to charge a Surcharge to CC users, did you think of rewording it to a convenience fee?  That is what my accountant does, since it is a convenience for not carrying cash and being robbed.  Now I am not a lawyer or practice laws but you may want to look into the wording because it makes all the difference.   Convenience Fee, Tip, Handling Fee, Friendly Service Fee.... 

If I charge 10% extra to use a CC in my store I would get the same notice you did, BUT if I raise my Prices 10% and have a 10% Discount that is all good.  BUT only the CC users are getting charged the Higher prices for using the CC.   So this is why Square says to offer a Cash Discount.  

[VanKalkerFarms]

Maybe you can post the email as you got it so we can help decipher what is the issue.

The first thing that comes to mind is that people charge a surcharge on debit cards and that is against the terms.  I see plenty of stores do it.

from Visa
"Q. Can I assess a surcharge on debit card transactions for which the cardholder using a debit card chooses “credit” on the point of sale terminal?
 No. The ability to surcharge only applies to purchases made with a credit card, and only under certain conditions."

So maybe that is something they have seen a lot of surcharges on debit cards?

The second thing is how much are you charging?  There is an imposed limit that you can't charge more than you are charged, i.e. you can't make money charging the customer for using a credit card.

Without the full email, I'm not sure exactly what was the issue.

This all can change too as Congress has a bill floating around about changing the way the credit card industry is able to operate.