⚠️ Please review the following requirements ⚠️
Requirements
Only available for businesses based in the United States and Canada.
Requires payments to be enabled.
All set? Let's go 🚀
Transaction Fees
Transaction fees are always a contentious topic. The infrastructure that facilitates money moving from account to account costs money and someone has to pay it! Traditionally, most businesses absorb this as "the cost of doing business" and offer a convenient way to pay online.
After many requests, we now offer the ability for you to pass these fees on to your client! There are a few things to weigh before deciding if you want to do this:
Profit - you can increase your profit margin without raising prices by having your clients pay the fee for credit/debit card processing.
Perception - some clients may feel "nickel and dimed" by an additional fee being added at the time of making payment.
Increased use of cash/check - some clients may not want to pay online because of this fee, instead opting for cash or check payments. You'll have to decide if this is a good fit for your business based on the risks.
⚠️ IMPORTANT - Please read before enabling this feature ⚠️
When US-based companies pass on credit card fees, the option to accept ACH/bank transfer payments is automatically enabled. While bank transfers are free to your clients, bank transfers are NOT free to the business.
How to Pass Credit Card Fees to Clients
 💡 Quick tip: Click on the video above to expand it in another window. |
Click "Settings"
Click "Payments"
Click "Pass credit card fees to client" to enable
Click "Enable Bank Transfer Payments (ACH)" if you would like to offer this as a fee-free payment method
Once this feature is enabled, a fee (view current fees) is automatically added to your customer's total when a credit card is used for payment.
🔴 Important Notes
This feature will not apply to any inspections that were scheduled before this setting was enabled.
This feature can now be enabled or disabled on a per-inspection basis (here's how).
These fees will not appear in your metrics or accounting (this is not revenue and you will not be taxed on it).
What Your Clients See
When paying for the inspection, your client is given two options to pay:
Credit Card (includes an additional fee)
Bank Transfer (No Fee) (US-only)
By law, when passing on credit card fees, a no-fee option needs to be offered to your client in addition to the option to pay via credit card.
For companies based in the United States, this option is offered through bank transfer (ACH). While this option is free to your clients, there is a fee charged to the business for bank transfers. Learn more about Spectora + Bank Transfers.
For Canadian companies, the no-fee option would be any fee-free payment option you offer outside of Spectora (cash, check, etc.).
After the inspection is paid, the processing fee will automatically be added as a line item on the invoice named "Technology Fee".
This wording cannot currently be edited. Why?
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the fees?
Credit Cards - a 3.95% fee will be added to your client's total.
Bank Transfer
No fee for your clients.
A $3.99 fee to you.
Why is there a technology fee and where does it go?
Part of the fee goes directly to our payment processors. The remainder goes to Spectora as revenue.
Why is there a fee for bank transfers? I thought it was free.
While bank transfers are free for your client, there is a cost to process these transactions through our payment processor.
Part of the fee goes directly to pay our payment processor and the remainder goes to Spectora as revenue.
Do I have to use bank transfers if I'm passing on credit card fees?
Absolutely not!
To disable bank transfers, uncheck the "Enable ACH Payments" box right below the "Pass credit card fees to clients" option.
Once this is disabled, please ensure that you've set your "Supported 'fee-free' Payment Methods" text. By law, you must have a no-fee payment method when passing on credit card fees (see below for more details).
To set this text, enter the text you'd like to see in the "Supported 'free-free payment methods":
If you enter nothing, it will default to "Pay via cash or check at the time of inspection."
Here's an example of what your client will see when bank transfers are disabled and a fee-free payment method is set:
For more information on customizing this verbiage, check out this article.
Why do clients get a "no-fee" option when passing on credit card fees?
Legally, to pass on credit card fees, clients must be offered an alternative that doesn't add additional costs to their total, such as cash, check, or bank transfer.
The no-fee alternative for companies based in the United States is either bank transfer (ACH) or any payment method you accept outside of Spectora (cash, check, etc.). Please note that for bank transfers, there is a fee to you, but not to your clients: learn more about bank transfers + Spectora.
For Canadian companies, the fee-free alternative is any no-fee payment method you accept outside of Spectora (cash, check, etc.).
Why is the fee called a "Technology Fee" and why can't I change it?
By law, we can't use the phrases like "processing fee," "credit card fee," or "payment fee". From our research, “Technology Fee” is the most commonly used term that stays within the bounds of federal, state, and local laws.
We realize that this term can trigger questions from customers. We are actively evaluating how we can provide other terms that may fit better with your business and still stay compliant with applicable laws.
What if I need to refund my client?
When issuing a full refund, your client will receive the full amount of the technology fee as part of their refund.
When issuing a partial refund, your client will receive a percentage proportional to the original technology fee.
If you have any questions or feedback, write into our chat bubble or email support@spectora.com!
