We have been discussing and sharing new information about security and safety for your business. Beyond being PCI compliant, here are 3 important steps to take before you decide to surcharge.

1) Notify the credit card companies if you intend to surcharge payments. For example, Visa requires a 30-day notice before you can apply a surcharge to your clients’ and customers’ credit card payments.

2) Know the cards and the states in which you can apply the surcharge. Debit cards are exempt, and cannot have a surcharge applied. The 6 (six) states who prohibit surcharging (as of 1-30-20) include:

Colorado
Connecticut
Kansas
Maine
Massachusetts
Oklahoma

3) Be prepared to disclose the surcharge. This can be of concern to you as a business owner, especially if your competition does not follow a similar practice. No matter what, you have to tell them that you are surcharging before you take their card for payment…and you have to disclose it on their receipt.

We know that some businesses can really benefit from this program. It is something to consider carefully and weigh all of the options and the requirements to remain compliant.

No matter what you decide to do, be aware of all of the local, state and bank card requirements to be sure that you will continue to be able to process credit card payments.

If you have read all of this and still think you want to apply a surcharge, there are ways to manage this to be compliant.