Surcharges and Processing Fees….what is acceptable?
Monday, September 27, 2010 5:01It seems we have become quite accustomed to paying 10% extra in cafes and restaurants for Sunday’s and Public Holidays. Everyone expects to pay it these days. So to, are surcharges for using your credit card.
Isn’t it just a cost of doing business and therefore should be built into your prices?
These processing fees, which range from 1% to well over 3%, seem to be the norm. We just have to build the fees into our budgets. Do you charge a processing fee in your business?
So, let’s take this concept a step further…..
Most businesses encourage direct deposits as a preferred payment method, however will accept cheques also. Given the cost of processing the cheque …..
- Taking it to the bank
- Waiting 3 days for funds to appear in your account
- Absorbing dishonour fees
Would charging a $10 cheque handling/processing fee be acceptable to you and your clients?
This is bound to surface very soon, so why not experiment with your clients and recover the costs of processing transactions!
Garry Robinson says:
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:43 am
All our clients pay by credit or debit card. I pay a small amount each month for our merchant facility but I do not pass the costs on as it saves me a great deal of time. I think it is worth it. However, if a card is declined or refused we get charged a fee by our merchant provider as well as the small administrative burden to re-process the transaction. We make a $5 surcharge for refused card payments and no one has objected so far. I think this is reasonable.