Credit card surcharge calculator

How the surcharge is worked out

The surcharge is the sale amount times your rate, divided by 100. The calculator rounds it down to the cent, so the fee never comes out above the rate you entered, and the total charged is the sale plus that fee.

Here's a made-up example: a $250.00 sale with a 2.5% surcharge. The fee is $6.25 and the customer pays $256.25. If the same customer pays with a debit card, the total stays at $250.00.

What the calculator checks

Three things decide whether the fee on your screen is one you can charge.

1. The card. Visa and Mastercard allow surcharges on credit cards only. Their debit and prepaid cards are off limits in both countries, and in the US that's true even when a debit card is run as credit.
2. The network caps. In the US, Visa's cap is 3% and Mastercard's is 4%. In Canada, both networks stop at 2.4%. Wherever you are, the cap drops to your own cost of accepting the card when that's lower.
3. Where you sell. State and provincial law can ban surcharges or add limits of its own. The calculator shows the status we list for each place, links to the statute, regulator guidance or card network rule behind it, and tells you the day we last checked a US state.

Interac Debit works differently in Canada. Interac caps any surcharge fee at $0.25 and says a merchant can't apply one directly, so it can only come through your acquirer, and never in Quebec.

Where surcharges aren't allowed

Our location pages list four places that ban credit card surcharges: Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts in the US, and Quebec in Canada. Pick one of them and the calculator shows no surcharge, whatever card you choose.

For the details, the state-by-state surcharging guide has a map and a table of state rules, and our guide to credit card surcharges in Canada covers the provinces.

Before you turn a surcharge on

Getting the number right is the easy part. You also have to give notice, post signs and put the fee on the receipt.

• Visa wants at least 30 days' notice to your acquirer before your first surcharged sale, in both countries. In Canada, Mastercard wants notice sent to Mastercard as well as your acquirer.
• Customers need to see the surcharge before they pay: a sign at your entrance and at the point of sale, and a notice at checkout for online orders.
• The receipt has to show the surcharge amount.

Our guide to the credit card surcharge sign covers the wording, and our surcharging program handles the compliance, disclosure and setup with you.