InkSoft Payments - Understanding Surcharges

Below is an overview of how surcharges work in InkSoft Payments and what merchants should know before enabling them for their business. We cover what a surcharge is, how surcharge fees are applied to transactions, and important considerations related to payment processing and compliance so merchants can better understand how surcharging impacts both their business and their customers.

IMPORTANT

Proper surcharging registration must be submitted to Mastercard at least 30 days before enabling the Surcharge feature. For a detailed guide on this, please look here. Surcharges are governed by state law and card brand rules (like those published by Visa and Mastercard), each of which are subject to change. We recommend you check with your local and state laws and/or reach out to your legal and finance teams to understand any specific rules that may be applicable.

To get started, we will need to enable Surcharges on your account. Click the Payments section in your InkSoft sidebar. Next, click the Preferences tab.

While this article will be specifically discussing surcharges, there's plenty of other settings in the Preferences tab that you can learn more about here.

Scrolling a bit down the page, you should see a Payment Options section:

Simply flip that toggle next to "Credit Card Surcharges" on, and you'll be asked to confirm that the proper surcharging registration has been submitted, before enabling. 

You will then be able to enter a percentage surcharge. Please note surcharging cannot exceed 3%, which is a rule set by Visa. Once you have entered the desired amount, be sure to the click the blue "Save Changes" button at the top of the page! Surcharges are now enabled on your account!

NOTE:

Current regulations require that shoppers be made aware that a surcharge is being applied. Shoppers will subsequently see in-platform disclosure any time a surcharge will be applied (proposals, store checkout, etc), along with the surcharge amount. 

Disabling Surcharges on Specific Stores

Once surcharging is enabled on your account, you can subsequently opt specific stores and proposals out of the feature. For stores, you will want to navigate the the Store Admin section of the store you would like to disable surcharges for. From there, you will click on "Checkout Settings" in the navigation menu on the left.

You should then see the "Disable Credit Card Surcharges" toggle there. Toggling it to on will opt the store out of applying the surcharge. Again, remember to click the blue "Save & Publish" button to save your changes!

Disabling Surcharges on Specific Proposals

Disabling surcharges on specific proposals is similarly easy. On the proposal in question, you will need to expand the "Payment Details" on the left hand side of the proposal.

There you will see the "Disable Credit Card Surcharges" toggle.

How Surcharging Impacts Your Bottom Line

While this feature will help offset costs involved in accepting credit card transactions, its important to note that it doesn’t eliminate costs entirely. At a minimum you’d still pay the per transaction fee. Below are some examples of what to expect while using the Surcharging features.