FAQ

Zero-Fee Processing is a Cash Discount program that passes the cost of acceptance back to customers who decide to pay with a credit or debit card. This program allows business owners to accept all major credit cards without being responsible for processing fees.

The process of surcharging allows you to pass on the cost of certain credit card fees to your customers. Because credit card fees often make up the fourth-biggest expense for a small business (behind rent, payroll, and cost of goods), this can be a great option to help you save some money each month. However, due to certain restrictions and regulations surrounding surcharging, it’s important to make sure you understand exactly how it works and talk to your processor to make sure you’re compliant otherwise you’ll be responsible for the fines that are associated with not following the guidelines.

Eliminate Credit Card Processing Fees: The biggest reason businesses switch over to a cash discount program is because they can eliminate most – and in some cases all – of their credit card processing fees. The customers that pay with a credit card also pay for the credit card processing fees. This is a huge saving for small businesses that can then use these funds to expand operations, expand marketing efforts, or simply grow their savings.

Gives Your Customers More Choice: When you work with a cash discount program, you are essentially offering your customers two different prices. Customers that pay with cash will pay a lower price – hence the “cash discount”. Customers that choose to pay with a credit card will pay a slightly higher price to cover the cost of processing. Your customers will ultimately have more options. You’ll also have the benefit of attracting bargain hunters!

Keeps Your Profit Margins Constant: Traditional processing fees are charged as a percentage of every transaction. This creates a lot of volatility and uncertainty for business owners looking to budget or plan ahead. Cash discount programs eliminate this issue, so you’ll have a more consistent view of your profit margins.

Simplifies the Payment Process: Cash discount programs ultimately make the payment process more simplistic for all parties involved. When customers are encouraged to pay with cash, you’ll significantly reduce the risk of chargebacks, pricing disputes, data breaches, fraud, and other complications.

More Cash: From mobile payments to contactless payments – modern technology has increased the scope of payment methods. Nevertheless, there are still some benefits to holding onto good old-fashioned cash. When customers pay with cash you receive that payment instantly. There’s no waiting around for the transaction to process. However, you never want to strip your customers of the ability to pay by credit, which is why the Cash Discount Program is the ideal solution for all parties involved.

In theory, there’s not much of a difference between these two fee-recovery methods. With a surcharge program, you’re increasing the cost for credit card users, whereas, with a cash discount program, you’re decreasing the cost for cash users. The primary difference is the amount of compliance.
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‍With a surcharge program, you have to jump through hoops to begin charging consumers for credit card transactions. In fact, in some states, you won’t be able to use surcharges at all! Surcharge programs are limited and do not apply to debit cards, cash purchases, ACH payments, etc.  When implementing this type of charge, merchants typically vary the percentage of the surcharge depending on the purchase amount and its added pre-tax.  Merchants add this fee because processing credit cards costs more making profit margins to be slimmer on low-cost items.