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Convenience Fees & Service Fees
Offset the costs of credit card processing fees with merchants with convenience and service fees.
What are convenience fees?
If you accept payments online, over the phone, or through the mail, you know there are additional costs to support that payment as compared to a traditional card-present transaction. Expanded payment options may be great for customers, but it may not always be great for your bottom line. Whether it is operational costs, or just the higher cost of card-not-present acceptance, alternative payment options can be costly. Offset those payment processing costs through a convenience fee where the customer helps to cover the cost of the payment option they want to use.
Our program supports a fixed rate model that will charge the same payment processing fee on every transaction. Regardless of the payment type, if a customer pays in a card-not-present environment, you can use a convenience fee to help offset your costs of supporting that payment platform. Offering convenience can be convenient for you too. Adding this to your account is simple, easy to do, and enables you to offset the cost of accepting non face-to-face payments.
What are service fees?
Managing costs is essential for organizations operating within grant-funded, government, higher education, and nonprofit budgets. For eligible organizations, service fees can help offset the costs associated with accepting card payments, giving you more flexibility to protect budgets while continuing to offer convenient payment options.
Service fees can apply to more than just credit cards and may be used in both card-present and card-not-present environments. Charged separately from the original transaction, service fees can be structured as either a flat amount or a percentage, depending on the payment method. Because fees are not subject to fixed caps, eligible organizations have greater flexibility to align their fee approach with their payment acceptance costs—as long as the fee remains reasonable in relation to transaction processing expenses.
Payment processing fee details
Convenience fees
- Only applicable to transactions that are completed in a card-not-present environment – although not limited exclusively to card-not-present environments – and are not allowed for card-present or face-to-face transactions
- A convenience fee is valid on all forms of payment accepted through a non-face-to-face payment channel
- Should be a flat amount, regardless of the value of payment due
- The fee must be collected at time of payment – not at a later time or in a separate transaction
- Merchant must clearly disclose to the cardholder that a convenience fee is being charged, before the completion of the transaction, the cardholder must be given the opportunity to cancel the transaction
Service fees
- Visa® is the only card brand that requires a registration, which may take up to 45 days to complete
- If a service fee is charged by a government taxing authority or a third party, the merchant must be authorized to process tax payment transactions
- While no signage is required, the service fee must be clearly shown to the cardholder prior to payment and the cardholder must be provided the option to cancel the transaction
Recognized leader in payment processing
Elavon is proud to be a recognized leader in the payments industry by Forbes Best of 2024 as one of the 10 best credit card processing companies.
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