Visa Lowers Maximum Surcharge Fees In 2023

Last Updated on March 13, 2023 by Corepay

In efforts to maintain fairness for all parties involved in payment processing, Visa has announced a set of regulation changes to their surcharge rules to take place this year. Whether you are a merchant or engaged in payment processing, these rules will pertain to you.

Before the new surcharge rules, merchants were allowed to charge a surcharge fee of up to 4% to offset credit card processing fees. This blog will cover all of the Visa surcharge rules changes that you will need to implement and also tell you when they will need to be implemented.

Why The Changes?

The Visa surcharging changes are meant to look after cardholders and ensure they aren’t being overcharged. The changes also benefit the merchants as they are only required to notify their acquirers 30 days in advance, meaning they no longer have to notify Visa.

What Are The Visa Surcharge Rule Changes?

• Key takeaway: Visa registration is no longer required. Merchants only need to notify their acquirers, not Visa, 30 days in advance if they wish to assess any surcharge fees.

• Merchants who intend to surcharge are no longer required to register with Visa. Instead, the merchant must notify their merchant acquirer 30 days before implementing a surcharge fee to consumers.
• The maximum US surcharge fee has been reduced from 4% to 3%.
• The maximum Canada surcharge fee has been reduced to 2.4%.
• The surcharge amount must be populated in Field 28 — Amount, Transaction fee, which Visa will now consider as the surcharge notification.

What Is The Compliance Date For The Visa Surcharge Rules?

All merchants must have these changes implemented before April 1, 2023, to avoid penalties with the changes going into effect on April 15, 2023.

What We Recommend

All merchants should take note of these rule changes and be sure to make sure they’re compliant before April 15, 2023.

Should you need any help implementing these changes or if you are confused by any of the regulations, please contact us at [email protected].