How Fluid Pay Supports Fee Programs (Dual Pricing, Cash Discount, and Surcharge)

A merchant might take a card at the counter in the morning, collect an invoice online in the afternoon and run a recurring payment overnight. The pricing program has to work correctly in each of those situations.

That is why we built dual pricing, cash discount, and surcharging into Fluid Pay. Our gateway supports all three programs compliantly, with controls designed for the way each one is supposed to operate. Partners can choose the right program for a merchant and apply it across supported payment channels.

A retailer that regularly accepts cash may need a different setup from a business that collects most of its payments through invoices. The right approach starts with how the merchant sells and what its customers see.

What's the Difference?

Dual pricing shows customers both the cash price and the card price before they pay. An item might be listed at $100 for cash and $103 for card, before tax. The customer sees the options and pays the displayed price for the method selected. Those prices need to be clear throughout checkout and reflected accurately on the receipt.

Cash discount starts with an advertised standard price and reduces it for customers who pay cash. If the posted price is $103 and the cash discount is $3, the cash customer pays $100. A customer paying by card pays the posted $103. Visa's guidance is clear that a cash discount is a reduction from the standard price.

Surcharging adds a separately disclosed fee to an eligible credit card payment. A $100 purchase with a permitted 3 percent surcharge would total $103 before tax. Whether that surcharge is permitted depends on the card, the merchant's acceptance costs and the applicable rules.

These differences determine how the program should be configured. A fee added to a posted cash price does not become a cash discount simply because someone gives it that name.

For a side-by-side of the three models, see dual pricing vs cash discount vs surcharging.

Compliance must be part of the transaction

In the United States, Visa and Mastercard prohibit surcharges on debit and prepaid cards. Running a debit card through the credit option does not change that. Visa also limits surcharges to the lower of the applicable merchant discount rate or 3 percent. Mastercard has its own cost-based limits and maximum cap. Applicable laws and acquiring partner requirements also need to be accounted for.

Fluid Pay's surcharging tools identify the card type before authorization and exclude ineligible cards from the surcharge. Partners can set program limits, and the gateway includes controls for prohibited states and disclosures on supported checkout pages and receipts.

Those controls work alongside the merchant's responsibilities. Posted prices, required signage and setup with the acquiring partner need to match the program being used. The customer should be able to understand the amount being charged before authorizing the payment.

Staying consistent with our build

Putting these programs in the gateway gives partners a consistent place to manage them. Fluid Pay's pricing engine supports Virtual Terminal, hosted payment pages, ecommerce checkout, recurring billing and supported terminals. Partners can set defaults and configure the program for each merchant.

Simple Payments is a good example. Merchants can offer a hosted payment page through a button, payment link or QR code, with support for dual pricing, cash discount and surcharging. That brings program support into a payment experience a business can offer without building a custom checkout.

Virtual Terminal allows merchants to handle card and ACH payments in a browser. Our invoicing product delivers payment links by email or text, while Recurring Billing supports scheduled card and ACH payments. These are practical tools for a merchant that collects money outside a traditional counter transaction.

For partners, handling those workflows within the gateway can simplify implementation and support. They can show a merchant how the program works in the tools it will actually use, then manage that program from the same platform. You stay in control as our partner and your merchant.

Choosing a program that fits the merchant

A partner should look at the merchant's advertised prices, mix of payment methods and billing process before recommending a program.

Fluid Pay gives partners the flexibility to make that decision merchant by merchant. A portfolio can include businesses using different programs, and supported changes between programs can be handled through configuration instead of a new gateway integration.

We work through ISOs, agents and software providers who own the merchant relationship. Our job is to give those partners useful choices and the technology to carry them through. Supporting compliant implementation of all three programs across our supported products is an important part of that.

Talk with us about how these programs would work in your merchants' checkout, invoicing and billing tools. We can help your team choose an approach that fits how each business collects payments.