Surcharge Fee

Every credit card payment comes with a processing fee, and by default, that cost falls on your business. The Surcharge Fee Pass-Through feature in Zuper gives you the option to pass that fee on to the customer instead. You set up your surcharge rules once in Settings, and the surcharge is automatically enabled on all invoices and quote deposits by default. If you want to waive the surcharge for a specific transaction, you can turn it off at the invoice or quote level. Zuper handles the calculation automatically at checkout.
Zuper has partnered with Yeeld, a surcharge compliance service, to ensure surcharges are calculated accurately and applied in accordance with card brand rules and state regulations.

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Before You Begin

• Your account is enabled for Zuper Pay.
• You have Admin permissions to access Surcharge Settings.
• You have reviewed the Prohibited States section below. Surcharging is not allowed in every U.S. state; check with your legal team before enabling this feature.
• Surcharges apply to credit card payments only. Debit and prepaid cards are not eligible.
• The surcharge you configure does not exceed the lower of 3% or your total average cost of credit card acceptance.

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Setting up Surcharge Rules

Start by setting up your surcharge rules in Settings. This is a one-time configuration that tells Zuper how much to charge based on the invoice or quote total. You can define tiered ranges so smaller invoices carry a lower fee than larger ones.

1. Navigate to the Settings module from the left navigation menu.
2. Select Zuper Pay.
3. Select Surcharge Settings.
   
4. Toggle Enable Surcharge Fee to On.
5. Read and accept the consent form to activate the feature.
6. In the Select a State field, choose the state of your business operation.

7. Under Define Surcharge Fee Range, set up your tiers:
   1. Enter the Minimum Amount.
   2. Enter the Maximum Amount.
   3. Enter the Surcharge Percentage for that range.
   4. Click + Add New Range to add additional tiers and repeat.
      
8. Click Save.

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Surcharge on Invoices and Quote Deposits

Once the surcharge is configured in Settings, it is automatically enabled on all invoices and quote deposits by default. You do not need to turn it on per transaction. If you want to waive the surcharge for a specific transaction, open the invoice or quote, scroll to the bottom of the page, and uncheck Enable Surcharge Fee. The surcharge will not be applied to that transaction, and your organization-wide settings remain unchanged.

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How the surcharge is applied

When a customer pays an invoice or quote using a credit card, Zuper automatically calculates and applies the surcharge based on your configured tier rules. For example, if you have configured a surcharge of 3% for amounts between 1,001 and 2,000, and a customer receives an invoice for 60.00. The customer sees the surcharge as a separate line item before confirming payment and is charged a total of $2,060.00. The surcharge amount is determined by the invoice or quote total and the tier that matches that amount.

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Payment Method Considerations

Surcharges apply to credit card payments only. If the customer pays with a debit or prepaid card, the surcharge is automatically removed, and the customer is charged the original invoice amount only. Zuper supports surcharge collection for both card-present and card-not-present credit card transactions.

• Card Present
• Card Not Present

While customers see the surcharge added to their payment total, Zuper Pay calculates its processing fee separately based on the payment method used. The processing fee is applied to the total amount collected - including the surcharge. In the example above, the customer pays $2,060.00. Zuper Pay calculates the applicable processing fee on the full 2,060.00 and deducts it before settling the remaining funds to your account.

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Automatic Payments

When a surcharge is configured in Settings, it applies automatically to all automatic payments without requiring any action at the transaction level.

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Processing Refunds

When you refund a transaction that included a surcharge, the surcharge is refunded in proportion to the refund amount.

• Full refund: The customer receives the full amount back, including the surcharge.
• Partial refund: The surcharge is partially refunded in proportion to the amount refunded.

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Prohibited States

Surcharging is governed at the federal, card network, and U.S. state levels. Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, and Discover impose their own requirements, including a cap of the lower of 3% or the merchant’s cost of acceptance. At the state level, some states prohibit or restrict surcharging entirely, while most allow it with conditions such as caps and disclosure requirements. Rules vary and may change. Zuper automatically detects the service address ZIP code and disables the surcharge for restricted locations.

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FAQs