How You Can Eliminate Processing Fees
Save Your Money By Implementing Surcharging
What is Surcharging?
A surcharge is an extra fee that is charged to a customer when they complete a purchase with a credit card. This is sometimes referred to as a service charge. Merchants who do not have a surcharge program have to absorb the credit card processing fee.
Surcharging passes this fee onto the customer. Customers pay for the convenience and rewards associated with using a credit card. This can mean real savings for your small business.
When customers check out they have the option to pay with a credit card, debit card, or cash. If they choose to pay with a credit card, they will pay the surcharge fee. If they choose cash or debit, they can avoid the fee. Surcharging is only legal on credit card transactions. You can’t add a surcharge to a debit card, prepaid card, or cash transaction.
Surcharging is different from cash discounting and they can’t be combined. A cash discount program is when a business offers a small discount (usually the amount of their credit card processing rate) to customers who pay with a debit card or cash. This encourages customers to use methods of payment other than credit cards.
Why You Should Set Up A Surcharge Program
Once set up, a surcharge program increases your revenue effortlessly. It doesn’t require regular maintenance or updates and you keep more of your profits without any work. Surcharging lowers your business expenses so you can operate with lower costs. This is especially helpful for businesses that rely on low-value but high-volume transactions. See the benefits of surcharging by contacting DropTheFee today. The annual savings will speak for themselves.
You don’t have to absorb the cost of credit card processing fees. Although it may not seem like a lot, this fee on every transaction adds up quickly and can hurt your business. Think of what you could do with the extra money you save each year. This can be invested back into your business in the form of new inventory, equipment, or more employees. Setting up a surcharge program with DropTheFee is quick and easy. We do the hard work of reaching out to credit card networks, making sure you have the proper signage, etc. so you don’t have to. Get a free consultation to see how we can help you today!
How to Set Up A
Surcharge Program
There are a few steps you need to take before you can start a surcharge program. First, you have to register with the major credit card networks (American Express does not require this) to let them know you’re implementing a surcharge program. Surcharging is legal in most states in the US but not all, so it is important to check if it is legal in your state.
It is required that you post signage at the door of your business and at the POS system letting your customers know that you have a surcharge fee on credit cards and what the fee is. This also applies for an online checkout page. The surcharge fee cannot be greater than your effective processing rate and it cannot be more than 4%. It must be clear to customers that you charge an extra fee on credit card transactions and that they can choose to pay with cash or debit to avoid the fee. In addition, the surcharge fee must be shown as a separate item on any receipt given to the customer. There may be a lot of considerations, but with DropTheFee, you can be sure that we handle all of the fine details for you. Our mission is to get you back to running your business without paying unnecessary credit card fees.
To implement a surcharge program, you need special terminals or POS systems that are able to detect the type of card being used in each transaction. DropTheFee has different terminal options that can be customized for your business. You don’t have to give up the convenience of mobile and virtual terminals. We offer all of those options for accepting payments.
$0 Terminals
Set Up in Minutes
We offer multiple terminals available to your business for free. You can integrate your terminals into POS systems, loyalty, accounting and track inventory/menu processes. These terminals are pre-programmed so all you have to do is turn it on and begin accepting payments.
Mobile Terminals allow you to turn your smartphone or tablet into a card reader so you can accept payments on the go. Smart terminals like Clover or Pax A920 have fully equipped touchscreens and wireless capabilities to make accepting payments a breeze. These terminals are new and easy to use, and if you ever run into problems, we have 24/7 customer support to help get your issue resolved as soon as possible.
Multiple Ways to Accept Payments with DropTheFee
In-Store Payments
Accept card payments from terminals in your store.
Mobile Payments
Run transactions from a mobile reader to accept payments on the go.
Virtual Terminal
Easily accept credit card payments from your computer or over the phone.
No Contract
Guaranteed Savings