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Managing online payment processing costs is essential for your business. Upflow allows you to apply surcharges to card payments, enabling you to pass on part or all of these costs to your customers. Here’s how you can set up and manage surcharges effectively.

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What are surcharges?

Surcharges are charges applied to card payments to cover the cost of processing transactions. With Upflow, these fees are automatically added to the payment when your customer selects the card payment method. Choose to pass all, part, or none of the payment fees to your customers. Note: You cannot pass more than the payment processing fees. Regulations vary by country. Consult with your legal counsel to ensure compliance with local laws. Note: For compliance reasons, card surcharges apply to credit cards only. They are automatically disabled for debit and prepaid cards. If the card type cannot be determined, no surcharge is applied.

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How surcharges are calculated

Card surcharges have a fixed and variable component. When you pass those fees on to customers, the amount they will pay should increase proportionally so as to cover the added resulting processing fees. We apply the following formula to update it, where you specify the fixed (“F_fixed”) & variable (“F_percent”) inputs as mentioned above: So for example if you decide to pass 3.50% + $0.30, then the amount paid for a $1,000 invoice (“P_goal”) by your customer via their Upflow portal will be: “P_charge” = $1,036.58.

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What Is the impact of activating surcharges?

When activated, surcharges will: Appear as a separate “card fees” line item on the card checkout page for transparency. Note: When the card is identified as debit or prepaid, no surcharge is added and the customer sees: “No card fee applies to this payment.” Be included in the Payments List view , allowing you to track transactions with surcharges easily Note: When a card fee is €0, a tooltip in the Payments List view explains why:
  • For debit or prepaid cards: “Card fees don’t apply to debit or prepaid cards, so no fee was charged to the customer.”
  • For unknown card type: “We couldn’t confirm the card type, so no card fee was applied.”
Be displayed in the payment receipt generated for your customer once the payment is processed.

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Setting up surcharges

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Activating surcharges

  1. Head to your settings: Go to your Payment Methods section, and click Edit at the Card level.
  2. Enable the toggle: Activate the surcharges toggle.
  3. Define the fee structure: Specify a percentage and/or a fixed fee to apply to card payments. Note that your organization can only use one fee schema.
  4. Set default activation: Decide whether to enable surcharges by default for new customers. Existing customers will require manual or bulk activation.
Note: Once enabled, surcharges apply only to credit card payments. For compliance reasons, this cannot be applied to debit or prepaid cards.

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Activating surcharges for your customers

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Individually

  • Go to the Customer Details page.
  • Use the toggle Surcharging to activate or deactivate surcharges for a specific customer.

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In bulk

  • Navigate to the Customer List view.
  • Select multiple customers and use the bulk action feature to enable or disbale surchaging.

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Using smart rules

  • Configure Smart Rules to automate surcharging activation based on specific criteria, such as customer type or any custom fields.

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Best practices for surcharges

  • Be transparent: Clearly inform customers about surcharges during the checkout process to avoid confusion. You can mention it in your email reminders or even create a dedicated campaign.
  • Stay compliant: Work with your legal counsel to ensure your fee structure complies with local regulations. Surcharging debit and prepaid cards is prohibited or heavily restricted in many jurisdictions — Upflow automatically excludes these card types to keep you compliant by default.
  • Monitor performance: Regularly review your Payments List view to track how surcharges impact payment collection.

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Conclusion

Surcharges offer a practical way to offset payment processing costs while maintaining transparency with your customers. Upflow ensures compliance by automatically restricting surcharges to credit cards only, so you can pass on fees confidently. By following these steps, you can set up and manage surcharges to support your business goals effectively. For more details, check out the Online Payment Setup Guide or contact support@upflow.io.