Surcharge disclosure and receipts, done right.

Surcharge disclosure means telling customers about a credit card surcharge before they pay, both where they enter your business or website and at the point of sale. After the sale, the receipt must show the surcharge as a separate line item, not hidden inside the total.

Surcharge disclosure and receipts are the parts of a surcharge program customers actually see, which makes them the parts most likely to cause complaints when they are done poorly. This guide covers where notices go, what they should say and how receipts should look in person, online and over the phone. Card-brand rules change, so check current rules before you launch. This is not legal advice.

Where disclosure goes

Card-brand rules expect notice in two places, so customers can decide how to pay before they reach the end of the sale.

Channel	Point of entry	Point of sale
Storefront	Sign at the entrance	Sign at the register and on the terminal screen
Restaurant	Sign at the door or host stand	Note on the menu or check, and at payment
Online	Notice before checkout begins	Surcharge shown on the payment page before submitting
Phone orders	Staff tell the caller early	Staff confirm the amount before taking the card
Invoices	Terms on the invoice	Surcharge shown on the payment page or pay link

If you take payments in several ways, each channel needs its own disclosure. A sign on the front door doesn’t cover your website.

What your notice should say

Keep it short and specific. A good surcharge notice covers four things:

1. That a surcharge applies to credit card payments
2. The percentage, at or under the cap and your actual cost of acceptance
3. That the surcharge does not apply to debit cards
4. That other payment methods, such as cash or check, carry no surcharge, if that is true for your business

An example of plain wording: “We add a 2.5% surcharge to credit card payments, which is not greater than our cost of acceptance. There is no surcharge on debit cards, cash or checks.” Adjust the percentage to your real number. Card-brand rules may set specific wording or placement expectations, so confirm current requirements for the brands you accept.

Make it readable

• Use a font size that can be read from where customers stand or sit.
• Place point-of-sale notices where customers look before paying, not on the back of the terminal.
• Online, show the notice on the page before checkout, not only in your terms of service.
• Avoid vague labels like “card fee” or “service charge” that leave debit customers guessing.

How the receipt should look

The receipt is your proof that the surcharge was applied as disclosed. It should show the surcharge as its own line, with a clear label and amount. A typical in-person receipt reads like this:

Line	Amount
Sale	$200.00
Credit card surcharge (2.5%)	$5.00
Total charged	$205.00

For debit and prepaid cards, the receipt should show no surcharge at all. That is where BIN-based detection matters. If your system relies on a “debit or credit” prompt, debit cards run as credit will be surcharged and the receipt will show it. See can you surcharge debit cards for how to prevent that.

Online and emailed receipts follow the same rule. The order confirmation and the email receipt should both list the surcharge separately. For invoices paid by link, the payment confirmation should show it too.

Common disclosure mistakes

When we review existing surcharge programs, disclosure problems are among the most common gaps. The usual ones:

• Only one sign. A notice at the register but nothing at the door, so customers learn about the surcharge after they have already ordered.
• A percentage that doesn’t match. The sign says one rate and the terminal charges another, often after a settings change.
• Online notice buried in the terms. Customers never see it until the receipt arrives.
• Phone staff without a script. The surcharge is never mentioned before the card is taken.
• Old signs after a change. The program was adjusted, but the posted notices were not.

A quick walk-through of every channel, as if you were a customer, catches most of these in a few minutes.

Refunds, voids and records

When you refund a sale in full, refund the surcharge with it. For partial refunds, refund the surcharge in proportion to the amount refunded. Your POS or gateway should handle this automatically once configured, but check it during testing. Voided transactions should leave no surcharge behind.

Keep simple records: photos of your signs, screenshots of your online notices and copies of sample receipts. If a customer disputes a charge, being able to show that the surcharge was disclosed and itemized helps. Our guide on how to prevent chargebacks covers documentation more broadly.

Some states restrict surcharging or have their own display requirements, and card-brand rules change. Check the current rules for each place you do business before posting signs. For the full list of program requirements, see our surcharging rules guide.

What PayZoom does

When PayZoom sets up credit card surcharging, we configure your terminal, POS, gateway or cart so the surcharge prints on its own receipt line and is shown on the payment page before customers submit. BIN-based detection keeps debit and prepaid cards free of the surcharge. The surcharge is capped at 3% and set from your real cost of acceptance.

We help you plan sign wording and placement for the door, the counter and your website, and we help you review current rules before launch. Start with a free statement analysis, or call 866.242.4325 and a real person will walk through it.