How Surcharge Gets Applied in TimeSolvPay
Surcharging and Its Impact on Payments and Refunds
This article covers the following:
1. Surcharge Feature in TimeSolvPay
2. Impact of Surcharging on the System
3. Displaying Transactions with a Surcharge
4. Paying via Payments & Credits, Trust Accounts, or Replenishing Trusts
Surcharge Feature in TimeSolvPay
A checkout fee or credit card surcharge is a fee that customers are charged for using their credit card. This practice enables merchants to process credit card payments without incurring any costs. Instead, the cost of credit card interchange fees is transferred directly to the customer at the point of sale.
The initial TimeSolvPay signup process allows users to enable surcharging when creating a new Merchant Account. The Surcharging feature cannot be enabled on existing merchant accounts, and users must sign up for a new Merchant Account to use it.
Navigate to the TimeSolvPay>Settings tab to start the TimeSolvPay signup process.
Click here on TimeSolvPay to learn more about registering for TimeSolvPay.
The initial Surcharge Splash screen briefly describes surcharging and the option to enable it. By default, ‘Proceed with Surcharging‘ is set to ‘No‘ and takes you to the Enrollment process without the Surcharging option.
Selecting ‘Yes‘ from the dropdown displays the ‘Continue’ button to start enrollment with Credit Card surcharging.
The ‘Start Enrollment’ process will only be enabled once the user acknowledges the intent to surcharge credit card payments by clicking the checkbox.
Once the enrollment is initialized, several details must be provided before submitting your application.
After you have submitted your application, the firm must wait for approval. While the Operating account will now be visible in TimeSolv, the Trust account will only be visible once the application is approved.
Close the registration window and click on ‘Refresh.’ Once the application is approved, the ‘Status‘ will show as ‘Active.’
Impact of Surcharging on the System
After enrolling, you will notice the following changes in the system:
Website Payments
The ‘Pay as Guest’ option notifies the user that Credit Card payments are subject to a surcharge. A Review Screen with credit card details and billing information is displayed when clients select the ‘Credit Card Payment’ option to make the payment.
Click here on Website Payments to learn more.
Clicking on the ‘Review’ button, the ‘Card Information‘ screen allows you to review the amount and surcharge applicable before you make the payment.
Clicking on the ‘Pay’ button initiates the payment, with the button displaying the total amount the Credit Card will be charged.
Charge via Client Portal
When making payments from the ‘Make Payment’ screen, clients with access to their Client Portal can see the surcharge notification at the bottom left corner.
Click here on Charge via Client Portal to learn more.
When the client clicks on the ‘Pay via Card’ button, the ‘Review Payment‘ screen allows them to review the amount and surcharge applicable before making the payment.
Clicking on the ‘Pay’ button initiates the payment, with the button displaying the total amount to be charged.
Displaying Transactions with a Surcharge
Search Transactions Screen
TimeSolvPay Transactions that have surcharges applied are listed on the Transactions screen with a round blue icon with an ‘S’ inside. Hovering over the surcharge icon brings up a tooltip with the surcharge amount and the rate at which the surcharge is applied.
Transaction search can be performed by navigating to TimeSolvPay>Transactions screen.
To learn more about searching transactions, click here on Search, View, and Export TimesolvPay Transactions.
If a surcharge amount was refunded, the ‘Details’ popup lists the refunded amount under the ‘Payment History’ section. To view the ‘Details’ popup, click on the paper icon on the extreme right of the entry.
Paying via Payments & Credits, Trust Account, or Replenishing Trusts
Users who do not have their Credit Card details saved on file and are making payments using the ‘Pay via Credit Card – Manual Entry’ option will see the surcharged amount and the rate applied on the payment’s ‘Review’ step.
To learn more on how to make payments using the Credit Card – Manual Entry option, click on the following links:
- Pay via Credit Card – Manual Entry for making payments using the Payments tab.
- Replenish a Trust Account using Credit Card – Manual Entry to Replenish a Trust Account.
- Pay via Trust Account using Credit Card – Manual Entry to make payments via Trust Account.
Refunds on Amounts That Include Credit Card Surcharge
Credits can be issued back to the client if the funds are currently located within an operating account, i.e., the Payments tab.
For surcharged transactions, the entire amount that includes the surcharge gets refunded to the customer.
For instance, if the original transaction amount is $100 and the surcharge is $3.0, the total amount paid by the customer will be $103.0. In this example, the $103.0 will be refunded to the customer, and the merchant will have $100 taken out of their bank account.
Once a user has applied for a refund, the Refund Amount field is disabled to prevent edits, and a note is displayed indicating that this is a surcharged transaction and can only be voided.
