Want to protect your profits and offset the cost of processing credit card payments? You can automate this process by enabling convenience fees on ThryvPay transactions. This guide will show you the one-time setup needed, and how to make changes if desired.

Article Contents:

• Adding A Convenience Fee
• Customer View of Convenience Fee
• FAQ

Adding A Convenience Fee

First, navigate to ThryvPay, and then Settings

Scroll down to the section Offset Credit Card Fees. Here, you can select to enable either a Convenience Fee or a Surcharge

Note: Only one of these options can be selected at a time. You are not able to charge both a convenience fee and a surcharge

What is the difference between a convenience fee and a surcharge?

• Convenience Fee - A flat dollar amount added to every eligible transaction (See the FAQ below for more on which transaction are eligible). These are available for all users
• Surcharge - A percentage of the total cost of a payment charged to offset credit card fees. Note that in some areas surcharges are not legal to charge. Please ensure that surcharges are legal in your area before using.
  • Note: Surcharges are blocked for this reason in the following areas:
    • Massachusetts
    • Connecticut 
    • Puerto Rico
• 

Once the convenience fee or surcharge is enabled, it will automatically be applied to all eligible transactions. An eligible transaction is when your customer checks out using a credit card or Wallet Pay. It's not charged if you initiate the charge. It will only apply through the customer checkout flow.

Customer View Of Convenience Fee

When your clients receives your invoice or payment link, they can select to pay from that mesage. They will be directed to a ThryvPay screen that will display the invoice total, along with the convenience fee.

The convenience fee will not display until the final payment screen, after they select to pay by credit card. 

At this point, your client will be able to back out of the payment and pay a different way if they choose to. They will not be shown the convenience fee until the payment screen.

FAQ

What is the purpose of a convenience fee? 

Convenience fees are for brick & mortar merchants who choose to charge their customer's a fee for the convenience to pay for goods and services with an alternate payment channel. 

What is an alternative payment channel? 

Alternative payment channels consist of mail, telephone, mobile, eCommerce/online, text, invoices, and estimates.  

What kid of transactions are eligible?

An eligible transaction is when your customer checks out using a credit card or Wallet Pay. It's not charged if you initiate the charge. It will only apply through the customer checkout flow.

What payment methods are applicable for charging a convenience fee? 

Credit-Cards, Debit-Cards, Prepaid-Cards are all applicable forms of payment methods. 

Are there any restricted types of transactions that cannot have a convenience fee? 

Yes, recurring transactions cannot have a convenience fee; nor can ACH transactions.

Are there any considerations a merchant needs to take into account? 

Yes, before the completion of the transaction, the cardholder must be given the opportunity to cancel or have the ability to pay by other methods such as ACH, check, cash, etc. 

Does a convenience fee have a limit on how much can be charged? 

No, any flat fee or percentage can be selected, and this fee applies to all credit card transactions online once it has been activated.  Convenience fees can be enabled under ThryvPay settings.  

How does a convenience fee payment appear to me and my customers? 

Convenience fees and tips create a secondary payment transaction, one in addition to the original sale transaction. You will see this reflected in Sales>Payments received as 2 separate transactions. One for the initial payment, and one for the tip/convenience fee. ThryvPay Transactions will have one transaction listed, but if you click into it you will see both transactions listed separately. Your customers will see two payments from you. One for your original sale transaction amount and another for the sum of the convenience fee and any tips.  

EX: A customer wants to purchase a basketball for $100 and thanks to your great customer service, the customer is tipping you $10. In ThryvPay settings, you enabled convenience fees which charges a fee to customers $5 for online purchases. Your customer initiates the checkout process, resulting in a charge.  Your customer only sees one charge/transaction on their credit card statement, but they do receive 2 receipts for their payment. One receipt is for the original sale transaction and the second one is for the convenience fee/tip. In ThryvPay Transactions, you will see two transactions when you click to view the payment details as well, one for $100 and another for $15. 

Can convenience fees be used with other payment gateways, i.e. Square, Stripe, or PayPal? 

Convenience fees are only available with ThryvPay.

*A Convenience fee is currently only offered by the ThryvPay payment gateway. 

Click here to see the full ThryvPay Fee Schedule