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ePay Offset – Share The Cost of Transaction Fees

Overview of ePay Offset, a program that allows you to share the cost of credit card processing with your clients.

ePay Offset is a program that allows you to share the cost of credit card processing with your clients. This optional program lets you charge a 3% fee on credit card payments as part of the order total. The following article provides an overview of Offset, how to opt-in, how to check out with Offset, and how to see your savings through reports.

 

Overview

Although credit card payments are convenient, fast, and secure for cardholders, they can be costly for merchants to process. ePay Offset leverages an automated and compliant surcharge model to help you recoup credit card processing costs by sharing that cost with your clients, as opposed to raising your prices across the board.

 

When this feature is enabled, a 2.4% fee is charged to your clients as part of their order total. Your fees are NOT increased, you still pay wholesale pass-through pricing. Due to credit card brand compliance requirements, a surcharge may only be added to credit transactions – not debit or any other means of payment. Therefore, debit card transactions remain at original processing rates. This fee structure effectively reduces your credit card processing costs to around -0.5%, meaning you generate revenue on each transation! So, for each $1,000,000 of revenue per year, ePay Offset will reduce your transaction fees to 0% and generate $5000 in additional income.

 

NOTE: Before enrolling in ePay Offset, you should consider whether you comply with all applicable provincial and state laws. 

 

Opting Into ePay Offset

To opt into ePay Offset, navigate to the Business Details section of the Manage Business page and toggle on the individual locations you’d like to enable. Before switching on Offset, please check out our enablement checklist & FAQ (linked under downloads), and familiarize yourself with the following compliance guidelines:

  1. MasterCard’s notification requirements direct you to use this form 30 days prior to activating a surcharge program, like ePay Offset. 
  2. The card network rules also require the posting of clear signage declaring the terms of your surcharge program at your point of entry and point of sale. You can use the suggested template (linked under downloads)or create your own.
  3. Surcharge permissions vary by state, regulatory, or card network rules. Be sure to familiarize yourself with those rules.

Upon launch, the surcharge automatically appears as a “Credit Fee” at checkout, when booking online, and on customers’ receipts.

 

ePay Offset Acknowledgement:

By enabling ePay Offset, you acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for complying with all applicable regulations and guidelines; state, local, and federal laws; and applicable guidelines published by the card brand networks related to your use of a Surcharge program like Offset. Contact a tax professional, legal advisor, or your local government for further guidance on whether your area permits surcharges.

 

Check Out with Offset

One of the main benefits of the ePay Offset program is that the surcharge is automated and seamless for your staff and clients at checkout. Upon card payment, ePay automatically detects the card type, and the Credit Fee is included when a credit card is used. The Credit Fee is calculated prior to tax, as tax must include the Credit Fee. In line with card brand requirements, the Credit Fee cannot be waived on individual transactions.

NOTE: Credit Fees are deposited to you as part of your daily standard deposits and fee revenue is reflected in your Sales and Payments Beta Reports.

 

Manual Check Out

When a card on file is selected, or when a card is input directly into the checkout window via manual entry or swipe, a banner displaying the Credit Fee prominently displays before you complete the transaction. On a receipt, the Credit Fee line item will display beneath the subtotal and prior to any tax as part of the order total.

 

Partial Payments

Partial payments are supported with ePay Offset and, if a credit card is charged partially, the partial payment amount includes both the Credit Fee and tax.

 

Purchases Made Online

Deposits, packages, memberships, and gift card purchases made through your online booking overlay with a credit card include a Credit Fee. Card type detection occurs as the client selects a credit card on file or inputs a new credit card. The booking overlay displays a fee disclaimer prior to checkout.

 

Refunding a Credit Fee

The Credit Fee is automatically refunded proportionately to the refunded credit card payment amount. For example, if 50% of the card payment is refunded, 50% of the Credit Fee is included with that refund.

 

Reporting

In reporting, a new sale type of “Fee” is visible to report on your associated fee revenue. In the Detailed Line Item report, filter to the Fee sale type to review your associated fee sales across your preferred time period. A Fee sale type is included in your Sales Summary report to allow you to cross-reference your Credit Fee sales against your merchant fees. You can also use the Merchant Activity report; a column for Offset Sales is included for each transaction.

NOTE: Credit Fee data is only visible in beta reports. Credit Fee data within the Sales Summary classic report is coming soon.

 

FAQ

Q: Can you turn ePay Offset Off? If so, can you enable again?

If a customer no longer wishes to participate in ePay Offset, they can turn off the feature for each individual location using the toggles in the Business Details section of the Manage Business page. Once the feature is turned off:

  • Clients will no longer be charged credit fees on any transaction when using a credit card
  • All merchant accounts for the business location will adopt the processing rates that were in place before ePay Offset was enabled

The customer may opt back into ePay Offset at any time. When opting back in, the customer must abide by all compliance requirements as soon as the feature is re-enabled. All merchant accounts within the business location will once again adopt a 4% processing rate for credit card transactions.

Q: Does it matter if the card is present vs. not present?

No, the credit fee and processing fee under Offset remains the same for both card-present and not-present.

Q: Is Offset applied for mobile checkout with a card on file?

Yes, the credit fee and processing fee under Offset will apply for mobile checkout transactions.

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