This guide offers a summary of card surcharge compliance provided by Ignition.
Please note: This does not serve as legal advice and may be incomplete. Your business should ensure full compliance with surcharge regulations in your jurisdiction.
Consider if card surcharges are right for you
Before moving ahead, we encourage you to think carefully about whether applying a card surcharge is right for your business.
If clients expect to pay you in the most convenient way for them, applying a surcharge could create a negative customer experience. On the other hand, if all your clients currently pay you from their bank account and you want to offer an additional payment option, surcharging could be a good fit for your business.
For practices located in the USA
Card networks, including Visa and MasterCard, have rules on the use of surcharging that apply to US merchants/companies.
MasterCard rules
You can find a summary of MasterCard’s rules on this page.
Whilst you should review the rules in full, here is a short summary of the main points:
MasterCard states that merchants* must register their intention to surcharge 30 days in advance, using the form linked from the page above.
MasterCard states that the maximum allowable surcharge rate is 4%.
MasterCard states that merchants* are not permitted to apply a surcharge on debit cards.
* "Merchant" refers to your company.
VISA rules
Visa states that the maximum allowable surcharge rate is 3%.
Visa states that merchants* are not permitted to apply a surcharge on debit cards.
* "Merchant" refers to your company.
For more detail, see Visa’s “Merchant Surcharge Q and A” document.
Other card networks
When accepting card payments through Ignition clients will be able to use other card brands such as American Express or Diners Club. These card brands may apply their own surcharging rules.
We strongly recommend you research these rules to ensure compliance before you begin surcharging.
General guidelines
Setting a surcharge rate no higher than 3% will help ensure compliance with Visa rules.
Ignition provides the ability to exclude debit cards from surcharging. Enabling this option is necessary to comply with card network rules.
Regulation at the state level
The state that your business is located in may regulate the use of surcharges. Some states prohibit surcharges by state law or regulation. As of August 2023, some these state are:
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Puerto Rico
Ignition does not provide guidance on card surcharging regulation that may be in force in your state.
We strongly recommend you research these rules to ensure compliance before you begin surcharging.