Buyer Charges
Specific merchants and sellers can use Finix to charge buyers or renters convenience fees, service fees, or rental fees.
For eligible merchants and card brands, Finix enables merchants to charge their customer's convenience fees, service fees, or rental fees (under the Visa Rent Program) for card transactions.
These fees, referred to as Buyer Charges, can be used to help offset the costs of processing payments. Merchants can only pass one additional charge per transaction (e.g., merchants can’t pass a convenience fee and a rental charge in a single transaction).
If you'd like to take advantage of Buyer Charges for your merchants and sellers, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with card brand rules and applicable legal requirements. If you have any questions, please consult with your legal counsel.
-
Finix Core only: For steps on how to enable Buyer Charges, see
Update
Merchant
to Enable Buyer Charges . -
Finix Flex only: Reach out to
Finix Support
to enable Buyer Charges for
Merchants
.
Overview
Buyer Charges that you can include when creating a Transfer
or Authorization
include:
-
Convenience Fee:
A convenience fee, is a charge passed to the customers when the merchant is providing a method of payment (usually internet or over the phone) different from its standard payment channel (historically mail or in-person). Include the convenience fee in
convenience_amount
when creating aTransfer
or anAuthorization
.
-
Service Fee:
(passed as
convenience_amount
) This convenience fee is only available for specific MCCs under education and government. Include the service fee inconvenience_amount
.
-
Service Fee:
(passed as
-
Rent Surcharge:
Visa offers the Visa Rent Payment Program, which allows qualifying property owners to collect a fee from cardholders who make rent payments with their credit or debit card. Include the rent surcharge in
rent_surcharge_amount
when creating aTransfer
or anAuthorization
.
For example, let’s say you want to create a Transfer
or Authorization
with:
- A payment that totals $100
- A $3 convenience fee
You would include the following values when creating a Transfer
:
curl https://finix.sandbox-payments-api.com/transfers \
-H "Content-Type: application/vnd.json+api" \
-H 'Finix-Version:2022-02-01' \
-u USsRhsHYZGBPnQw8CByJyEQW:8a14c2f9-d94b-4c72-8f5c-a62908e5b30e \
-d '
{
"additional_buyer_charges": {
"convenience_amount": 300
},
"amount": 10000,
"currency": "USD",
"merchant": "MUeDVrf2ahuKc9Eg5TeZugvs",
"source": "PIe2YvpcjvoVJ6PzoRPBK137",
"tags": {
"test": "sale"
}
}'
In the above example the amount
would be $100; the purchase price also includes the $3 convenience fee.
To process a Buyer Charge, you must include it in the amount
.
Similarly, if you want to create a Transfer
or Authorization
with:
- A rent payment that totals $50
- A $2 rent surcharge
You would include the following values when creating an Authorization
:
curl https://finix.sandbox-payments-api.com/authorizations \
-H "Content-Type: application/vnd.json+api" \
-H 'Finix-Version:2022-02-01' \
-u USsRhsHYZGBPnQw8CByJyEQW:8a14c2f9-d94b-4c72-8f5c-a62908e5b30e \
-d '
{
"additional_buyer_charges": {
"rent_surcharge_amount": 200
},
"amount": 5000,
"currency": "USD",
"merchant": "MUeDVrf2ahuKc9Eg5TeZugvs",
"source": "PIe2YvpcjvoVJ6PzoRPBK137",
"tags": {
"test": "sale"
}
}'
In the above example the amount
would be $50; the rent payment includes the rent surcharge.
If Buyer Charges exceed the total amount
, the transaction will fail. If you have any questions, please reach out to your Finix point of contact.
Update Merchant to Enable Buyer Charges
attention
The APIs to update Merchant
flags are only available for Finix Core customers. If you have additional questions, please reach out to your Finix point of contact.
curl https://finix.sandbox-payments-api.com/merchants/MUeDVrf2ahuKc9Eg5TeZugvs \
-H "Content-Type: application/vnd.json+api" \
-H 'Finix-Version:2022-02-01' \
-u UStxEci4vXxGDWLQhNvao7YY:25038781-2369-4113-8187-34780e91052e \
-X PUT \
-d '
{
"convenience_charges_enabled": true,
"rent_surcharges_enabled": true
}'
HTTP Request
PUT https://finix.sandbox-payments-api.com/merchants/:MERCHANT_ID:
Request Arguments
Field | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
convenience_charges_enabled |
string, optional | Set to true if you want to enable a Merchant to accept convenience fees and/or service fees. |
rent_surcharges_enabled |
string, optional | Set to true if you want to enable a Merchant to accept rent charges. |
Additional Buyer Charges Request Arguments
Field | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
convenience_amount |
string, optional | Include the convenience fee the merchant is charging the buyer for the transaction when creating a Transfer or an Authorization . |
rent_surcharge_amount |
string, optional | Include the rent surcharge the merchant is charging the buyer for the transaction when creating a Transfer or an Authorization . |