Feature request - surcharges

[mikesee]

When will it be possible to configure surcharges in Square?

I see some old discussion topics (2 years) saying it is on the roadmap.

There are several reasons why we need surcharges but the two big ones for me:

1. Apply a credit card surcharge to all card transactions

2. Apply a Sunday or public holiday surcharge. This is pretty essential in Australia due to the higher wage costs.

Needs to be automated and rules-based.

[#2]

Hi Sellers! 👋

Just jumping in here to share some exciting news about automatic surcharging!

We're thrilled to announce that Square’s Automatic Card Surcharges Beta Program is now open to all eligible Australian Sellers! This much-anticipated feature allows you to seamlessly pass on processing fees for card payments directly to your customers.

Getting started is easy. Eligible Sellers can now activate and manage one automatic surcharge directly from their online Square Dashboard. Once set up, the surcharge will be automatically applied when a customer pays with a card from:

- Square Point of Sale

- Square Restaurants POS or Square Retail POS apps on compatible iOS devices, Android devices, Square Terminal, and Square Register

To learn how to set up your automatic surcharge, visit Get Started with Service Charges Beta. 

For questions or feedback on this new experience, please join the Card Surcharges Group in the Beta Seller Community.

We're eager to hear your thoughts and experiences with this new feature. Feel free to drop your comments below!

[#3]

EDIT (July 2022): We've started to roll out Service Charges (AKA Surcharges) in Australia, which you can read more about here. The first iteration supports:

• The Square Point of Sale app
• Manually applied fixed ($) or variable (%) surcharges
  
  

In future iterations of Service Charges we hope to support:

• More Square products (eg Square for Restaurants, Square for Retail, Invoices etc)
• Automated service charges, so you won't need to manually add it

---------------

Hey @mikesee,

I'm sorry to say that I don't have an update on surcharges right now.

We're still tracking feedback on this and it's a popular request from Australian sellers. For now we recommend building surcharging into the overall price of your goods as you might other operating expenses, or you can manually calculate a surcharge into the overall cost of a given transaction.

If you would like to pass on credit card processing charges to your customers, you can use the following to calculate what you would charge.

For transactions put through a Square Reader at 1.9%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.981

e.g. $100 / 0.981 = $101.94 - you'd add $1.94 as a 1.9% surcharge.

For “Card not Present” transactions at 2.2%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.978

E.g. $100 / 0.978 = $102.25 - you'd add $2.25 as a 2.2% surcharge.

For transactions put through Square Terminal at 1.6%:

Transaction amount divided by 0.984

e.g. $100 / 0.984 = $101.63 - you'd add $1.63 as a 1.6% surcharge.

Why Wouldn’t I Just Add 1.9% or 2.2%?

Square’s card processing fees are based on the overall transaction amount, so if you’re adding $1.90 to a $100 transaction, the transaction becomes $101.90, not $100. Using the above formulas accounts for this small change to the overall fee on transactions if you’re adding a surcharge

Should you decide to apply a surcharge, it is your responsibility adhere to Australian regulations as set out by the ACCC.

[mikesee]

Does this beta work for public holiday surcharges?

[Slixx]

And most other card payment services provide these features out of the box

[dimo10]

@mikesee no this beta is only for the card payments.

The way we do public holiday surcharge is through Sales Taxes. we have a 15% surcharge Sales tax that we switch on just for public holidays. Its a manual process to be switched on and off for each public holiday.

From the Dashboard 

Settings > Accounts and Settings > Sales Taxes > Create Tax

I hope this helps.

Chris

[Mmp74]

Thank you

I believe this maybe the wrong way to go about it as it's not a tax and can get messy at tax time. Ask your accountant.

The way I have created one is through Service Charges and create any surcharge needed

[TheB0ss]

A surcharge isn't a tax, but its the only way to add a service charge.

Adding proper service charges as mentioned above Mmp74 is to add it or delete it, it cant be activated/ deactivated the same way the taxes are.
It would be better if you can add the service charge and set days/  times or activate/ deactivate the same ways you can with the taxes in this case the tax option is the best practical way to manage it.

[RachelLawes]

Adding my voice to the Australian credit card surcharge requests. 
Owner of a wine bar that is over not being able to pass on charges. 
My market is way too competitive to just up prices across the board to cover. This needs to be resolved! 

[Slixx]

I also have a use for surcharges.  I am a chauffeur driver and I require to add a percentage to standard rates for an after hours charge.

Also for different vehicle. Larger vehicles have a certain percentage added to them. At the moment I have to create a whole item for different vehicle and different times. 

[Marnierose68]

is ther a way to add an eftpos or card fee without adding it manually as a service charge?

[Arie]

Hello, @Marnierose68,

Welcome to our Community! Thanks for writing in with this question about automatic surcharges. Right now, services charges would have to applied manually. We're tracking this feature request via this thread, and I've merged your post to keep track of the number of sellers interested in this feature. 

[RachelLawes]

Watching this thread to gauge interest seems like a perfect BS excuse. Square have the ability to take 1/2 hour and create a poll and share to the registered email addresses of all its Australian customers - who contribute over 8million dollars annually to Squares bottom line and ask us directly. 
Please add the ability to automatically click a button and set the rate and add a surcharge to any transaction done by card - while you’re at it - make us able to do the same for afterpay. For the tiny amount it would cost you it would increase customer satisfaction and therefore increase new business signing up and retention of exisiting.