surcharge (payment systems)

A Surcharge is an extra fee charged by a card acceptant when paying with cheque, credit Card, charge Card or debit card (but not cash) to cover the cost of the merchant service charge. It may be prohibited by card issuers — at all (e.g. Visa and MasterCard in the United States) or when the acceptant also accepts cards with a prohibited surcharge. Law may force to allow or prohibit a surcharge. No surcharge means that it is included in prices (even when paying with cash).