Card Surcharge
A card surcharge is an extra amount added when a client pays by card, meant to cover the merchant fee. Whether you can add one depends on local rules and your card processor’s agreement.
What it means
A card surcharge moves the merchant fee from you to the client, shown as its own line at checkout or on the invoice rather than folded quietly into the price. The client sees it before they choose card over another method, which is the point — a surcharge added after the fact reads as a hidden charge, not a stated term.
Whether a surcharge is allowed, and how it has to be shown, differs by country, by state or region, and sometimes by which card network the client used — a network can ban a surcharge on its own cards even where the general law allows one. Check your local rules and your own processor’s merchant agreement before you add one; this page names the mechanism, not whether it’s allowed where you operate.
An invoice for $400 lists a card surcharge of $12 as its own line, separate from the job total, so the client sees the extra charge before picking card over bank transfer.
Adding a surcharge because a competitor does, without checking your own card network’s rules — a network can ban it outright on its own cards, whatever the general law where you operate says.
General information, not legal or tax advice — rates and rules vary by place; check yours. See our terms for the full version of this note.
See also
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