How Compliant Surcharging and Dual Pricing Can Boost Your Portfolio

The card not present (CNP) payments market is full of opportunity for independent agents. For example, the simple introduction of a refreshed, easy to use interface is going to be exciting for merchants who are looking for ways to deliver faster, more convenient payments to their customers. Adding pricing programs that benefit merchants, agents, and processors to the mix increases the opportunities for independent agents to build their portfolios. 

A great place to start is with two impactful pricing models: surcharging and dual pricing.

Surcharging

Surcharging allows merchants to give their customers a choice of which card to use. Customers can use their credit cards and pay a portion of the processing fee, or they can use their debit cards and pay nothing additional. 

By passing along a portion of the processing fee on credit cards, merchants can increase their profit margin, which is especially attractive for big-ticket items. Surcharging is popular amongst all business verticals, including B2B and B2C merchants. 

Payroc RewardPay

Payroc’s RewardPay program is a compliant surcharging solution which offers list debit pricing to customers and a surcharged credit price, which typically helps reduce their cost of card acceptance by 50% to 70% compared to traditional flat rate or interchange plus pricing plans.  

RewardPay can also be viewed as a "fair" solution by surcharging high-cost credit cards, while offering customers a no-fee debit option since accepting debit cards is less expensive for merchants. 

Ultimately, the best pricing model for merchants depends on a number of factors.

Dual Pricing

Dual pricing allows merchants to offer two prices to customers: a standard card price, as well as a discounted price for paying cash or check – with the latter being prevalent in CNP environments.  

For accounts’ receivables, it can be a fantastic solution as merchants may send email invoices and/or accept checks. Typically, check payments take much longer to reconcile than a card payment, which can be settled same day.  

Offering merchants a solution that accepts checks alongside cards in a CNP environment through a virtual terminal or hosted payments page can transform their business and increase client loyalty. 

Payroc’s dual pricing solution does just that.

Payroc ConsumerChoice

Payroc’s ConsumerChoice product is a dual pricing solution that gives customers the “choice” of a standard payment with their card or earning a discount by paying a form of cash. Both prices are displayed side by side on the payment device in card present environments.  

In CNP environments, such as email invoices, customers “click to pay” and choose to pay by card or ACH with prices for each. Payroc leverages PaybyACH electronic check processing platform integrated into Payroc gateway ecosystem, which can allow for a margin compared to cash payments.  

Payroc also offers a few options to merchants depending on transaction size and reconciliation timing needs. Our PaybyACH solution allows merchants to choose which ACH solution is best for their business. This is especially beneficial for merchants with high-volume cash payments that need to be funded within a few days.  

In addition, merchants using Payroc’s ConsumerChoice solution receive statements that consolidate card and cash payments. They can track customer behaviors and trends to deliver the right payment options for their customer base.  

While dual pricing is a useful model for some merchants, many will opt for a surcharging solution such as RewardPay. 

Determining the Best Pricing Model for Merchants

To help merchants choose the right solution, agents should engage in conversations about the merchant’s business and conduct a full statement analysis to reveal where merchants can achieve the most value.  

In addition to surcharge programs, Payroc also has standard pricing plans along with solutions that automatically populate Level 2 and Level 3 data, providing savings to merchants and increasing the value of merchant services. 

Determining the best solution is also a function of how sophisticated a merchant’s needs are, their transaction count, what they sell, how they sell their products or services, and what kind of cards they typically accept.  

For more information on Payroc’s ConsumerChoice and RewardPay programs, please visit our solutions page.