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Surcharging with Lightspeed Payments

You may choose to offset your credit card processing fees by transferring a portion of the cost to your customer through a credit card surcharge. Credit card surcharges are an additional fee applied to any transaction paid with a credit card at the time of sale. These fees are typically a percentage of the total bill added as a separate line item.

The following transaction types will not include surcharges:

Setting up surcharges with Lightspeed Payments

Surcharges can be added as a separate line item to a transaction through Lightspeed Payments. Your surcharging options can be found in Retail POS. Note that surcharging is only available when using the At Sale payment authorization and capturing option with Lightspeed Payments. For more information on configuring your settings with Lightspeed Payments, visit Setting up Lightspeed Payments.

To enable and configure your surcharging settings:

  1. Navigate to Finance > Terminals tab.
  2. To the right of the location name, click Settings.

    Retail-X-Surcharging-Terminal-settings.png

  3. On the terminal settings page, toggle on Surcharging.

    Retail-X-Surcharging-Toggle-on.jpg

  4. Click Customize surcharges.

    Retail-X-Surcharging-Customize-surcharging.jpg

  5. Review and update the default surcharge for all cards or add card exceptions as needed, then click Done.

    Retail-X-Surcharging-Customize-surcharging.png

    • You can reduce but not exceed the default surcharge values. Reset to max to restore the default values.
    • If rates are set to 0, the customer will see a $0 surcharge fee message on the terminal. Disable surcharging on the terminal settings page instead.
  6. Click Save at the bottom of the page.
  7. Restart your payment terminal to update your surcharging settings.

Customers will now be prompted to pay for the transaction fees on the terminal. 

Surcharging regulations

If you choose to add credit card surcharges to your business, there are a number of rules and regulations that must be followed to ensure full transparency and compliance.

The examples below highlight some of the common policies involved in surcharging and are not an exhaustive list:

  • You must notify credit card companies, such as Visa and Mastercard, in advance to the surcharge taking effect.
  • You must disclose surcharges as a merchant fee and clear signage must alert customers of the surcharge at the point of entry, the point of sale, and on every receipt.
  • Third parties are not permitted to impose a surcharge. Surcharges must be applied by the merchant through their POS or card processor.
  • The surcharge amount must not exceed the processing rate you are being charged by your payment processor.
  • The cardholder must be given the opportunity to cancel, without penalty, after the surcharge is disclosed.
  • Surcharges can only be assessed on the final total amount charged for the goods or services, after any discount has been applied.

Regulations vary depending on your region. For a full list of regulations, contact your local regulators.

  • Australia

    If you choose to add credit card surcharges to your business, there are a number of rules and regulations that must be followed to ensure full transparency and compliance.  These examples have been selected to highlight some of the common policies involved in surcharging and are not meant to serve as an exhaustive list. Regulations vary depending on your region. For a full list of regulations, contact your local regulators.  

    • You must notify credit card companies, such as Visa and Mastercard, in advance to the surcharge taking effect.
    • You must disclose surcharges as a merchant fee and clear signage must alert customers of the surcharge at the point of entry, the point of sale, and on every receipt.
    • Third parties are not permitted to impose a surcharge. Surcharges must be applied by the merchant through their POS or card processor.
    • The surcharge amount must not exceed the processing rate you are being charged by your payment processor.
    • The cardholder must be given the opportunity to cancel, without penalty, after the surcharge is disclosed.
    • Surcharges can only be assessed on the final total amount charged for the goods or services, after any discount has been applied.
  • For a full list of regulations for your region, contact your local regulators.

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