Credit Card Surcharging

It is possible to add a percentage-based surcharge on to all credit card transactions (debit and pre-paid cards are exempt from surcharging).

Currently, all credit card surcharging changes must be made in the My Settings wizard in UltraCamp's Classic view. 

If You Choose to Surcharge

For those who would like to offer surcharges, these are the limitations:

1. Some states have laws prohibiting or limiting surcharging. The prohibition applies to where your organization is located and not where your customers are from. We recommend checking your local and state laws to confirm your eligibility to surcharge. Clients operating in those locations should not surcharge.
2. Debit cards and Prepaid cards must be exempted from surcharges. UltraCamp automatically checks the BIN data of every card that goes through our system and exempts these cards from surcharges.
3. Surcharging is at the brand level, which means you surcharge for all credit cards that you accept. You cannot pick and choose the cards you want to surcharge. The accepted credit card types in UltraCamp that you can use are Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.
4. The maximum surcharge you can apply to a transaction must be the lower of either your credit card processing fees or a 3% maximum. This 3% cap is in accordance with Visa's regulations and the maximum limit supported by UltraCamp. 

Visa Surcharge Rules

https://usa.visa.com/support/small-business/regulations-fees.html#2

MasterCard Surcharge Rules

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/surcharge-disclosure-webform.html

AMEX Surcharge Rules

American Express does not require the submission of a formal notice.

Discover Surcharge Rules

Surcharging allowed if surcharging other card brands.

This information is accurate as of June 2025 and is subject to change by the card brands at any time.

How to Add or Adjust a Credit Card Surcharge for Your Organization

To manage your credit card surcharge settings, take the following steps:

• • In UltraCamp Classic, go to the Settings menu and expand the System/Management section.
  • Click My Settings.
  • In the wizard, go to the Enable Credit Card Payments page in the Client Payments section.
  • If your organization has credit cards enabled, you can set the Surcharging Fee.
  • [Optional] Set an Allocation Account for better financial tracking of surcharging fees.
  • Click Save to implement your changes.

Your designated Surcharge Fee will now be added to future credit card payments.

FAQ - How do surcharges work with Payment Plans?

In order for Payment Plans to work, surcharges are only added at the time a scheduled payment is processed. 

When a payment is scheduled through a Payment Plan, the following steps take place:

1. 1. On the specified date, UltraCamp calculates the surcharge fee based on your surcharge settings and the payment plan Breakpoint amount.
   2. UltraCamp adds the calculated surcharge fee to the account.
   3. UltraCamp collects the originally specified Breakpoint amount.
   4. UltraCamp automatically allocates the collected funds to account fees first, then to session fees. Because a surcharge is an account fee, monies will be allocated first to the surcharge fee, with the remainder being assigned to the session fees.

Example of Surcharge Function with a Payment Plan Breakpoint

Surcharging Fee: 5%

Breakpoint / Scheduled payment amount: $100

Session Fees: $200

Surcharge amount: $100 x 0.5% = $0.50

Allocations for $100 payment:

$0.50 → surcharge

$99.50 → session

The session will show a balance of $100.50 until further payment is made.  As long as this and other scheduled payments are followed by a  Collect Balance breakpoint, the session will be paid off along with all surcharges.