A credit card surcharge is an additional fee that a merchant may pass to a consumer when her or she elects to use a credit card as a means of payment. In the past, state laws and major credit card companies prohibited surcharging, but that's now in the past as it's now permitted for a merchant to apply a surcharge to customers who pay with a credit card.

Surcharging Requirements

1. You must be registered with Visa, MasterCard, and Discover (Registration process takes 30 days).
2. Alert your processor 30-days before implementing surcharging.
3. You must be sure your state allows for surcharging.
4. You must inform your customers at the point of entry and the register that a surcharge will be added to their bill before completing the transaction.
5. The amount of the surcharge must not exceed your retail cost of acceptance or 4%.
6. The total amount plus the surcharge must be processed together as one transaction.
7. The receipt must show the total amount on one line and the surcharge amount as a seperate line item on the receipt.
8. You must never surcharge a debit card, gift card, or a prepaid card.