Visa

For merchants who offer an alternate payment channel for customers to pay for goods or services, a convenience fee may be added to the transaction amount. If the merchant chooses to assess a convenience fee to its customers, the merchant must adhere to the following rules:

• The fee is being charged for a bona fide convenience of using an alternative payment channel out side of the merchant’s normal business practice (see example below).
• The fee:
  • must be disclosed to the customer as a charge for the convenience of using the alternate method to pay
  • is applied only to non face-to-face transactions
  • must be a flat or fixed amount, regardless of the amount of the payment due
  • is applied to all forms of payment card products accepted in the alternative payment channel
  • is included as part of the total transaction amount
  • cannot be added to a recurring transaction
  • is assessed by the merchant that provides the goods or services to the cardholder and not a third party
  • The customer must be given the opportunity to cancel prior to the completion of the transaction.

Example:

The merchant provides utility services to its customers, and the customary way to pay is by mail or in person at the merchant’s location. For the convenience of its customers, the merchant also offers a website for payments. In this example the merchant may apply a convenience fee to payments made via the website.

Source: http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/rules_for_visa_merchants.pdf

MasterCard:

A merchant must not directly or indirectly require any MasterCard cardholder to pay a surcharge or any part of any merchant discount or any contemporaneous finance charge in connection with a MasterCard card transaction. A merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash payments. A merchant is permitted to charge a fee (such as a bona fide commission, postage, expedited service or convenience fees, and the like if the fee is imposed on all like transactions regardless of the form of payment used.

• A surcharge is any fee charged in connection with a MasterCard transaction that is not charged if another payment method is used.
• The merchant discount fee is the fee the merchant pays to its acquirer to acquire transactions.

Also:

A merchant must not require or post signs indicating that it requires a minimum or maximum transaction amount to accept a valid MasterCard card.

Source: http://www.mastercard.com/us/wce/PDF/MERC-Entire_Manual.pdf

 

Top of Article