Newsletter: February 2023 – New Rules for Convenience Fees and Surcharging
February 2023
INSTANT ACCEPT FEATURE OF THE MONTH
Are you in compliance with the Convenience and Surcharge Fees?
New Rules for Surcharges and Convenience Fees It is important for merchants to be aware that Visa will be performing in-person audits to ensure compliance with network rules regarding surcharge fees and minimum transaction amounts for credit card transactions.
According to the regulations set by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, merchants operating within the US region or in a US territory are allowed to set a minimum transaction amount for credit card purchases. However, this minimum transaction amount cannot exceed $10. It is important to note that this rule only applies to credit card transactions and does not include debit card transactions.
INSTANT ACCEPT TIPS, TRICKS & TOOLS
How to Setup Convenience Fees in Instant Accept
To setup a convenience fee, simply log into the Instant Accept gateway, reporting.instantaccept.com and navigate to Hierarchy → Convenience Fee tab → now select what type of convenience fee you would like to setup and save.
Are you in compliance with the Convenience and Surcharge Fee New Rules?
Credit card surcharging is the practice of adding a fee to a customer’s purchase when they use a credit card for payment. This fee is intended to offset the processing fees associated with accepting credit card payments. While this practice is legal in some countries and states, it is prohibited in others.
The legality of surcharging depends on where your business is located. In the United States, for example, the practice of surcharging is legal in most states. Some states require businesses to meet certain conditions before they can legally surcharge, such as disclosing the surcharge amount in advance or capping the surcharge at a certain percentage of the transaction amount.
Understanding the Legalities
The fact that it costs money to move money within our financial systems is well-known to accountants and certified public accountants. This rule applies to credit cards as well. If your customers pay with credit cards, you will unavoidably have to pay processing fees for each transaction. Naturally, as a business owner, you are also looking for ways to reduce expenses and increase productivity.
You may be wondering how to effectively incorporate a surcharge into your billing or whether it is even legal for you to do so in your state. Surcharges are used by many businesses that accept credit cards to cover this cost.
CPA Charge has put together and in-depth article to help CPAs and Accountants understand the legalities, meaning and how to implement them.
Surcharging is not a Universal Solution
While surcharging can help businesses offset payment processing fees, it is important to note that it is not a universal solution. Surcharging may not be feasible for all businesses or may not be legal in all locations. Additionally, some customers may be deterred by the additional fee and choose to take their business elsewhere.
Furthermore, it is important to ensure that surcharging practices comply with all relevant laws and regulations. In addition to state laws, there are also federal regulations that businesses must adhere to when surcharging, including the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Business.com has put together pros and cons of implementing surcharging and conveniences in your business.
KEY FEATURES OF INSTANT ACCEPT
WE WOULD LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK
- Choose ANY Processor
- Accept Multiple Forms of Payments
- Work Within One User Interface
- Gateway Sync
- Multi-store Locations, Websites and Devices
- Create and Email Invoices
- Purchase Card Level 2 & 3
- Tokenization
- Recurring Payments
- Convenience Fees & Surcharging
- Protect Core Data
- PCI Level 1 Certified
Click the button and send us a review. If it’s anything below 5 stars contact us so we can work to resolve any issues you may be having.
HELPFUL LINKS & REFERENCES
© 2023 Instant Accept, LLC. All rights reserved.
© 2022 Intuit Inc. All rights reserved. Intuit & QuickBooks are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc.
©2018 Google LLC All rights reserved. Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google LLC.