How Are Contractors Handling Processing Fees Legally with Jobber Payments?
How Are Contractors Handling Processing Fees Legally with Jobber Payments?
This has been a huge topic for us, and I'm curious how other contractors are handling it. Every other contractor and supplier, even coffee stands, seems to be charging customers at least a 3% card processing fee.
We won't bake these fees into our overhead costs because doing so makes us less competitive on estimates. We want to give our customers the choice of how to pay: cash, check, ACH, or credit/debit card.
We thought we had solved this issue when Jobber told us we could simply add the processing fee as a line item on our invoices, giving customers a choice. That is what we have been doing until a customer recently questioned the 1% ACH fee and whether we are permitted to pass that charge along.
Even more importantly, Jobber Payments doesn't distinguish between credit and debit cards for surcharging purposes. Debit cards cannot be subjected to credit card surcharges under payment-network rules, even when processed as credit. Yet Jobber Payments does not provide a way for us to distinguish between the two when applying processing fees. This puts us, as the contractor sending out the invoice with a 3% fee, in a legally vulnerable position.
Jobber previously recommended adding the processing fee as a separate line item rather than building it into our pricing. However, this potentially exposes contractors to violations of payment-network rules since Jobber Payments accepts both credit and debit cards without distinguishing between them for surcharge purposes. How are we supposed to protect ourselves from the associated liability?
Additionally, if Jobber Payments is advertised as being "included" in our program fee, why are we being charged these additional processing fees without the tools necessary to pass them along compliantly? This raises serious concerns for us.
It would be great if Jobber Payments could be updated to automatically distinguish between debit and credit cards and allow customers to choose their payment method, including ACH, with any legally permissible associated fees clearly displayed.
I'd really like Jobber to clarify how contractors are supposed to implement their recommendation to add processing fees as a separate line item without violating debit-card surcharge restrictions.
How are other contractors handling this? Are you absorbing the fees, building them into your estimates, or have you found another solution that works within Jobber?
We want to continue using Jobber Payments, but we also need a system that allows us to offer customers payment choices without exposing our businesses to unnecessary legal risks.
