How to Legally Add Credit Card Surcharges to Customer Bills

Merchant fees can be a large business expense. Is there a legal way to add surcharges to customers’ bills to help defray the merchant costs? Yes there is! Quickbooks Small Business Center recently published this article with some helpful advice:

“Until a 2013 class-action settlement changed the rules, business owners were prohibited from adding surcharges to their customers’ bills to help defray the merchant fees charged by credit-card companies. And those fees can add up. Scott Levy, founder of PassThrough, a credit-card processing service, says U.S. businesses pay $55 billion a year in credit card merchant fees. We spoke to Levy about how small-business owners can legally add surcharges when customers pay with a credit card.
 
Small Business Center: What is surcharging?
 
Levy: A credit card surcharge is an extra fee that is added to the cost of a good or service for the use of a credit card.