Surcharging
A surcharge is an additional amount charged by the merchant to cover the cost of accepting card payments. The American Express Payment Gateway's surcharging functionality allows you to apply a surcharge on a transaction based on the following parameters:
- gateway entry point, for example, Hosted Checkout, Web-Services API
- payment method, for example, Mastercard, Visa, American Express
- funding method, for example, Credit, Debit
- currency
To allow the gateway to compute a surcharge for a transaction, you must configure surcharge rules in Merchant Administration. Alternatively, you can provide a pre-calculated surcharge on the order if you are integrating using Web-Services API/Batch.
Prerequisites
- You must be enabled for surcharging on your merchant profile with the American Express Payment Gateway.
- You must have surcharging rules configured in Merchant Administration to allow the gateway to calculate the surcharge.
Integrating to use surcharging
The gateway supports surcharging on transactions using the following integration methods:
Integrating through Web-Services API/Batch
You can apply a surcharge on an order using one of the following options:
- surcharge calculated by the gateway
To allow the gateway to calculate a surcharge, provide the following field in an
Authorize/Payor anUpdate Sessionrequest:order.netAmount: This is the amount payable for the order before surcharging is applied.
Do not provideorder.amountfield in the request. See FAQs below.You can submit a
Retrieve Transaction/Retrieve Orderrequest to retrieve the following surcharging details:order.surchargeAmount: The surcharge calculated by the gateway based on your surcharge rules.order.amount: The total amount for the order, inclusive of the surcharge amount.
You can also use thePayment Options Inquiryoperation to request the calculated surcharge amount by providing the fields:session.id,order.netAmount,order.currency,gatewayEntryPoint, andsourceOfFunds.provided.card.prefix. - surcharge calculated by the merchant
Provide the following fields in an
Authorize/Pay/Standalone Captureor anUpdate Sessionrequest:order.amount: The total amount for the order, inclusive of the surcharge amount.order.surchargeAmount: The surcharge, if any, applicable to this order. This amount must be included in the total order amount that you specify in theorder.amountfield.
Submitting a
Retrieve Transaction/Retrieve Orderrequest will return surcharging details as provided by you in the transaction request plusorder.netAmount(net amount derived as order amount minus surcharge amount).
Payment Options Inquiry operation to request card scheme/funding details to help you assess and apply the correct surcharge for a card. For more information, see FAQs below.- surcharge calculated by the merchant
order.amount: The total amount for the order, inclusive of the surcharge amount.order.merchantCharge.amount: The amount of the additional fee that you are charging the payer, currently this refers to the amount of surcharge only.order.merchantCharge.type: The type of the additional fee that you are charging the payer, currently this refers to the surcharge only. The value of merchantCharge.type is surcharge.
- Surcharge calculated by the gateway
order.netAmount: This is the amount payable for the order before surcharging is applied.order.merchantCharge.type: The type of the additional fee that you are charging the payer, currently this refers to the surcharge only. The value of merchantCharge.type is surcharge.
Authorize API Reference [REST][NVP]
Retrieve Transaction API Reference [REST][NVP]
Payment Options Inquiry API Reference [REST][NVP]
Integrating through Hosted Checkout
Surcharge can be calculated by the gateway through Hosted Checkout.
To apply a surcharge on a Hosted Checkout payment, provide the following field in the Hosted Checkout request (Checkout.configure() function or Create Checkout Session operation depending on your checkout flow):
order.netAmount: The amount payable for the order before surcharging is applied.
order.amount field in the request. See FAQs below.You can submit a Retrieve Transaction/Retrieve Order request to retrieve the surcharging details:
order.surchargeAmount: The surcharge calculated by the gateway based on your surcharge rules.order.amount: This is the net amount plus surcharge.
The payer will be able to view the applicable surcharge for the card they have entered and may choose to proceed with the new total amount, use a different card, or cancel the order. The payment receipt presented to the payer will display the surcharge amount that has been applied.
order.netAmount: The amount payable for the order before surcharging is applied.order.merchantCharge.type: The type of the additional fee that you are charging the payer, currently this refers to the surcharge only. The value of merchantCharge.type is surcharge.
order.amount field in the request. See FAQs below.You can submit a Retrieve Transaction/Retrieve Order request to retrieve the surcharging details:
order.merchantCharge.amount: The amount of the additional fee that you are charging the payer, currently this refers to the amount of surcharge only.order.amount: This is the net amount plus surcharge.
The payer will be able to view the applicable surcharge for the card they have entered and may choose to proceed with the new total amount, use a different card, or cancel the order. The payment receipt presented to the payer will display the surcharge amount that has been applied.
FAQs
Will the gateway calculate the surcharge if I provide both order.netAmount and order.amount fields in my request?
Providing both order.netAmount and order.amount fields without order.surchargeAmount will return an error because the gateway does not have sufficient information to calculate the surcharge. The gateway requires you to provide either the order.netAmount field OR the order.amount field.
If you provide all three fields then the gateway will not calculate the surcharge instead use the surcharge amount as provided by you.
Can I opt out of surcharging card payments when submitting a transaction?
Yes, to opt out of surcharging,
- provide the order.amount field in your transaction request to indicate the total amount for the order.
for Direct API from WSAPI version 50 to 66,
- when the surcharge is calculated by the merchant, do not provide value in the fields order.netAmount and order.surchargeAmount.
- when the surcharge is calculated by the gateway, do not provide value in the field order.netAmount.
for Direct API from WSAPI version 67 and above,
- when the surcharge is calculated by the merchant, do not provide value in the fields order.netAmount, order.merchantCharge.amount, and order.merchantCharge.type as surcharge.
- when the surcharge is calculated by the gateway, do not provide value in the fields order.netAmount and order.merchantCharge.Type as surcharge.
for Hosted Checkout from WSAPI version 50 to 70,
- surcharge is always calculated by the gateway, do not provide value in the field order.netAmount.
for Hosted Checkout from WSAPI version 71 and above,
- surcharge is always calculated by the gateway, do not provide value in the field order.netAmount and order.merchantCharge.type as surcharge.
If the payer requests a refund, will the surcharge amount be refunded?
Yes. Because the surcharge is included in the order.amount field, and it is this amount that's refunded to the payer, the surcharge amount will be refunded too. In case of partial refunds, the surcharge amount will be refunded on a pro rata basis.
If I have Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) enabled, will the gateway calculate the surcharge in both the payer's billing currency and my preferred currency?
Yes, the gateway will include the applicable surcharge in the order amount, which will be returned as paymentTypes.card.currencyConversion.payerAmount in the payer's billing currency and as order.amount field in your preferred currency (in the Payment Options Inquiry operation response).
Can I retrieve card type identification data to help calculate a surcharge for an order?
You can provide the sourceOfFunds.provided.card.prefix field in the Payment Options Inquiry request to retrieve the following scheme/funding details about the card used for payment, which may assist you in surcharging decisions:
paymentTypes.card.scheme: The organization that owns a card brand and defines operating regulations for its use.paymentTypes.card.brand: The brand name used to describe the card that is recognized and accepted globally. For many major card types this will match the scheme name. In some markets, a card may also be co-branded with a local brand that is recognized and accepted within its country/region of origin (see Local Brand).paymentTypes.card.localBrand: The brand name used to describe a card that is recognized and accepted within its country/region of origin. The card may also be co-branded with a brand name that is recognized and accepted globally.paymentTypes.card.fundingMethod: The method used by the payer to provide funds for the payment.
You can use these details to calculate a surcharge based on the card presented by the payer.