Once surcharging is enabled, it will automatically be applied to every transaction that detects an international or corporate card. Surcharging can be overridden at an individual level when creating a payment link or eCommerce instance:        surcharging_enabled: false,Documentation links:  

   •    Ecommerce API Reference    

   •    Payment Link API Reference

Surcharging amounts and currency are returned in the transaction object:
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 "surcharge": {

   "amount": 21,

   "currency": "GBX"

 },

The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012

5.1 Means of Payment

5.2 The ban on surcharging in regulation 6A(1) applies to most retail payment instruments as defined in regulation 6A(1)(a) and (b). These are:

• Non-commercial cards for which interchange fees are regulated under the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR); these include the vast majority of cards, such as Visa and MasterCard. However, they do not include corporate cards issued to employees for business expenditures like office equipment, supplies, or services.
• Other non-commercial payment instruments, e.g., a retail e-money payment.
• Payment services to which EU Regulation 260/2012 applies (Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) direct debits and credit transfer).

Limitation of Surcharges: Business to Business Payments under Regulation 6A(2) and Consumer to Business Payments under Regulations 4 and 6A(2)

6.1 Key Requirement
6.2 Where regulation 4 and/or regulation 6A(2) applies (and provided that regulation 6A(1) does not apply), surcharges are permitted, but must not exceed the costs incurred by the merchant/trader in processing the relevant means of payment. Where none of these regulations (6A(1), 6A(2), or 4) apply, there is no limit on the level at which a surcharge can be set, subject to the consumer rights referred to in the "Other consumer legislation" section below.

7.1 Regulation 6A(2)

7.2 Regulation 6A(2) applies where:

• The payment service provider of the payee or of the payer, but not both, is located in an EEA state, or
• Where the payment service providers of both the payer and the payee are located in an EEA state, and a payment instrument that falls outside the scope of regulation 6A(1) (such as a commercial credit card) is used.

7.3 Regulation 6A(2) limits surcharges between payers and payees concerning payment instruments. A payment instrument is a personalized device or set of procedures agreed upon between the payment service user and the payment service provider, which are used by the payment service user to initiate a payment order.

8.1 Regulation 4

8.2 Regulation 4 limits surcharging under certain contracts concluded between consumers and traders. Those contracts include sales or service contracts and contracts for the supply of water, gas, electricity, district heating, or digital content (regulation 5(1)).

8.3 Certain contracts are excluded from regulation 4. The exclusions are set out in regulation 5(2) and include contracts relating to social services, health services, gambling, banking, immovable property, and rental of residential property, timeshare, foodstuffs, and other goods for household consumption in specified circumstances.

8.4 These exclusions (set out in regulation 5(2)) do not apply where either regulation 6A(1) or regulation 6A(2) applies.

8.5 Regulation 4 does not refer to any specific method of payment, such as credit or debit cards. Therefore, the provision applies to any means of payment that a trader decides to accept. This would include cash, cheques, credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, charge cards, mobile payments, credit transfers, and direct debits. As technology develops, new methods of payment will also be subject to the prohibition.

9.1 What Can Be Charged

9.2 Surcharges can only consist of costs borne by the payee/trader for using the payment method in question. For card payments, legitimate surcharges may include:

• The Merchant Service Charge, which companies pay to their payment service provider. This includes the interchange fee paid by the company’s payment service provider to the card issuer, the fees paid to the scheme (e.g., Visa or Mastercard), and the margin retained by the company’s payment service provider to cover costs and profit.
• The transaction/overhead fees paid by the company to intermediaries for some or all merchant services, usually provided by the payment service provider. This occurs when an intermediary acts as a contact point for companies and typically deals with the payment service provider, charging a mark-up on the payment service provider’s fees.

9.3 The government's intention is that general business costs not directly incurred due to the payment method in question cannot be included in a surcharge. Therefore, indirect costs, such as general administrative overheads or staff training, equipment installations, and set-up fees, must not be included.

10.1 Calculating a Surcharge

10.2 The surcharge must not exceed (under regulation 6A(2)) the costs borne by the payee for using the specific payment instrument or (under regulation 4) the cost of the given means of payment. The payee/trader must identify those costs derived directly from the payment service in question. Costs must not be calculated on an average basis across two or more individual methods of payment (e.g., credit and debit cards together) and applied as a flat fee.

10.3 However, the government considers it reasonable, within a single method of payment, for the payee/trader to impose its charge on an averaged basis (rather than per transaction). For example, it is acceptable for a payee/trader to impose a standard charge for a credit card transaction based on average credit card transaction costs.

10.4 The payee/trader may apply that surcharge on a flat fee basis or as a percentage of the headline price.

11.1 Transparency of a Surcharge

11.2 For regulations 6A(2) and 4, the payee/trader must clearly identify the surcharge amount if they decide to impose one. Transparency is also important in light of consumer rights referred to in the “Other consumer legislation” section below.

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