Do any Kiosks facilitate credit card surcharges?

[Rainway]

Are there kiosks out there that will enable car washes to add a credit card surcharge when the customer chooses to pay with a credit card? I really want this ability for my next kiosk.

If it's not something any kiosks have available yet maybe we ought to start requesting this from the kiosk manufacturers.

Bloomberg had an informative article the other day (link below). It said 23% of businesses now charge surcharges for credit cards and that Visa is sending auditors to businesses ensuring they're not charging higher surcharges than they permit; It said in April of this year Visa lowered the limit merchants can surcharge to 3%, (down from 4%). While the first violation results in only a warning letter, the second and third violations carry fines of $5,000 and $25,000, respectively.

There's some company called CardX that facilitates businesses to add on credit card surcharges but I think it's just for web sales.

Bodegas Put on Notice as Visa Fights Back on Card Surcharges

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[jubalr]

CC charges are a cost of doing business, same as any other expense. It is part of the total expenses that determine what you pricing needs to be. It would be no different to have a dumpster surcharge, water use surcharge, etc.. Raise your prices a $1 if you are cutting it that thin.

 

[OurTown]

Why discourage card payments? Add up all the expenses related to accepting cash like counting money, bank runs, bill validator maintenance/replacement, coin accepter maintenance/replacement, security measures and changer maintenance/repairs. I bet that number to be more than CC fees and CC equipment maintenance so maybe we should charge more for accepting cash. Just raise your price on both CC and cash and call it a day.

 

[eckert16]

unless some obscure reason prevents it, and if you are satisfied with your current price, just subtract it publicly... you might consider a simple modification posted prices....there is absolutely nothing stopping you from advertising a $5 wash as
$4.61+tax+surcharges+whatever else (which happens to add up to $5)

 

[Matfry]

I agree with rainway although ive just started looking into this as well as many local businesses are charging surcharges I was also wondering if

their was a way to charge surcharges. Your question was is their a kiosk that can handle surcharges, im not sure but have you called and asked

your processor if this could be done? I suppose everyones position on this is different and maybe because of your location and customer base.

Their is a difference, folks that pay cash pay the same amount as the folks that pay by card. I personally have alot more expense in card fees than

then any cash related expense by far. As far as advertising how do you explain a card fee to the person paying cash?

 

[OurTown]

I personally have alot more expense in card fees than

then any cash related expense by far.

Have you factored in the cost of parts and labor for clearing jams, cleaning, repairing and replacing coin acceptors, bill validators and changers? What about the labor to pull the money and go to the bank? How about lock maintenance/replacement plus other security measures for just having cash on site? Food for thought.

 

[Rainway]

View attachment 9033

unless some obscure reason prevents it, and if you are satisfied with your current price, just subtract it publicly... you might consider a simple modification posted prices....there is absolutely nothing stopping you from advertising a $5 wash as
$4.61+tax+surcharges+whatever else (which happens to add up to $5)

That would be silly.

OP was inquiring if anyone knew of kiosk system had the ability to surcharge credit card fees when paying with a card. Doesn’t sound like it; understand folks feel it should just be priced in like water. I didn’t raise rates for quite a while then when I did I was hesitant to raise beyond one year inflation. This year I said screw it and raised prices to catch up with inflation from last year. No complaints yet. Suppose everyone’s used to every place raising prices.

My vending machine has an option to to add 15 cents to each item when paying with a card. Never had a complaint with that and it’s disclosed on the machine. Most people still pay with a card and 15 cents doesn’t phase them. If the machine let me charge flat % then I would.

After a really good month of washes I can’t help but wince seeing nearly $1,500 in credit card fees debited from my account. I’d rather deal with more cash and pay less fees even if my bill acceptors get more wear and tear.

I’d pull the trigger in a second if I could advertise $xx for wash and have some disclosure that it’s *cash price or *+3% if paying with a card.

 

[Rainway]

I reached out to Dencar who said although they don’t have it currently they expect to have in 2024.

The reply:
”In terms of adding a credit card surcharge, we do not support this today, but we are actively working on this now and should have this capability around mid-year. Since there would be a different cash versus electronic payment price (credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, etc.), we have to inject a "how do you want to pay?" screen prior to checkout. If electronic payment is selected, we will show a surcharge on the checkout screen and the cash acceptor will be disabled. Vice-versa, if cash is selected, there will be no surcharge and the electronic payment acceptance unit will be disabled. I am attaching some example screen images.”

 

[Wash4Life]

I don't believe a surcharge for credit card customers at a pay kiosk would work out well. People are not smart, and I see there being a lot of confusion and anger over different pricing for the same things. Even smart people can get angry or confused because of the way our business is designed. The selling point to an automatic wash is the quickness and not having to do it oneself. Because of that quickness, smart people would miss it, too.

I have said on here that contractors will put credit card surcharges. However, there is a huge difference between reading an invoice on a computer or table and buying a car wash on the go.

I know many gas stations have cash/credit pricing. Having worked in the gas business, it's a pain to have that because people would miss the signage and be furious about their purchase.