Since January 27, 2013, merchants across the country have the ability to impose a surcharge fee on consumers whenever the choice of payment is a credit card. However, no surcharges can be imposed when the consumer is using a debit card to make payment. Surcharge policies also have to be communicated to consumers clearly, whether you are retailing online or at a brick-and-mortar store.
Is Surcharging Allowed for All Merchants?
All US territories see the surcharge regulation in action except for:
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Kansas
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Texas
This is because, in the above-mentioned states, there are legal regulations limiting surcharging. What this means is that for retailers located in states not mentioned in the list above such as New Jersey, you are allowed to implement a surcharge whenever credit cards are used to make payment.
Nationwide Merchant Solutions Has the Ideal Surcharge Solution to Ensure Consumer Fairness
We have partnered with CardX so that our merchants can utilize their Zero-Cost Credit™ solution to ensure consumer fairness and stay compliant with the legal surcharging regulations. When you are imposing a surcharge on card transactions, the most important thing you have to ensure is that surcharges are only imposed on transactions that involve credit cards, and not debit cards. With Zero-Cost Credit™, you can do just that perfectly. When consumers are processing a card payment to pay for your product or service, Zero-Cost Credit™ will identify if the card used is a debit card or credit card. If a debit card is used, no surcharge will be imposed – ensuring that the consumer is charged fairly. If a credit card is used, Zero-Cost Credit™ will automatically impose an additional fee. This will help merchants to receive 100% of the amount of your sale.
Advantages of Using Zero-Cost Credit™
Nationwide Merchant Solutions makes sure that not only will you be able to impose surcharges under the right circumstances, you will also be able to reap a variety of other perks, including:
- Help your business complete registration with MasterCard, Visa, and Discover
- Provide the necessary signage to inform your customers at the point of sale, and at the store entrance (if applicable)
- Process the price of your product/service together with the credit card fee as one single transaction
- Show the surcharge amount as a separate line item
- Make sure the surcharge amount will not exceed 4% of the transaction or your cost of acceptance (whichever is lesser) by setting up your merchant account with the right parameters and reviewing your merchant statement
- Ensure that surcharges are excluded when debit cards are used to make payment
Established in 2006, Nationwide Merchant Solutions has extensive knowledge and industry expertise to help you stay compliant with payment processing regulations and take advantage of economical solutions for processing payment for your business. That’s why we have chosen Zero-Cost Credit™ as the ideal solution for our merchants to handle surcharging effectively. If you would like to find out more about Zero-Cost Credit™ or any other merchant solutions that we offer, feel free to contact us today or request for a live demo (only for those located in the Tri-State area).