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Credit card fee vs pay-by-check discount

BlueMtnCabins
Jul 14, 2017 1:42 PM
Joined Jun, 2016 1115 posts

is there any way to add a percentage based CC fee (or percentage based discount - either will work) based on whether traveler selected "pay by credit card" or "pay by check"?
CC fees are legal in my state.
I would like to be able to add an optional line item :pay by check/bank transferdiscount" that travelers can select (like it used to be for travel insurance) and if they select it, it can deduct a percentage based amount from total.
this would be applied rent and cleaning fee only (not to deposit) amounts.

or conversely, add a percentage based amount if they choose CC payment.

or is there any other way to set up quotes to achieve the same? or I have to add manual item to quotes?
TIA

Chris Hynes
Jul 14, 2017 1:52 PM
OR Team Member Joined Oct, 2012 1400 posts

There isn't currently a way to do an automatically applied surcharge/discount based on payment method. We've had several requests and thought about how to implement it, but the problem is the checkout flow right now. The guest doesn't choose a payment method until the end, after the amount has been finalized and renter agreement signed, so it would seem weird to jump an additional fee on them at that point.

What you can do is to create an add-on that the guest can select on the first page, next to travel insurance. Here's an article on how to set that up: https://www.ownerrez.com/blog/add-ons-are-here--also-known-as-optional-surcharges

Add-ons are only surcharges right now, so you could do (say) a 3% credit card fee which the guest would select on checkout. There's no validation on that, though, so theoretically a guest could not select the fee and then use a credit card later. But you can always add the charge to the booking later -- at least this way it is shown to the guest and they've got the option to pick it.

Will that work?

BlueMtnCabins
Jul 14, 2017 3:42 PM
Joined Jun, 2016 1115 posts

I can try but most likely they will never select it....

Chris B
May 1, 2018 1:39 PM
Joined Apr, 2018 13 posts

Is there a way to do this now? We wanted to offer PayPal as an option but if it’s selected automatically add a surcharge.

Chris Hynes
May 1, 2018 6:55 PM
OR Team Member Joined Oct, 2012 1400 posts

There is still not an automatic way to enforce it, but the optional method above still works.

Chris B
May 2, 2018 12:26 AM
Joined Apr, 2018 13 posts

:-( OK. I just sent you an email, sorry for asking the question twice. I didn't see the response here first. I suppose there's no way to automatically discount if using a check instead of credit card either, correct?

Chris B
May 2, 2018 12:28 AM
Joined Apr, 2018 13 posts

How did this work out for you?

Chris Hynes
May 2, 2018 7:49 PM
OR Team Member Joined Oct, 2012 1400 posts

Yep, you can't auto discount on payment method either. The basic problem is, what if they change payment methods throughout the booking? Like, start with a check then do a credit card but they've still got the discount. Or start with a credit card, but then want to finish via check and get the discount.

I suppose we could just add the surcharge/discount to the booking based on the method of the first payment and then leave it up to the owner to make any modifications necessary.

BlueMtnCabins
May 3, 2018 1:44 PM
Joined Jun, 2016 1115 posts

I have set up a select-able pay by check discount when booking is more than 35 days out. What I found is some people select the discount, pay deposit by check , and then pay balance by CC when time comes. I had to go and edit charges because they were trying to use discount and then go around the conditions set forth by the discount description. if you do not watch it they will do it. I am debating removing the select-able discount altogether as it is not worth the hassle to me as people are not being honest and there is no system check to prevent them going around it.

Chris Hynes
May 3, 2018 1:57 PM
OR Team Member Joined Oct, 2012 1400 posts

Yep, and that's the thing -- to get the right balance you really have to add the discount or surcharge on each payment and not overall. If you do that, then it could be confusing to the guest to initially see one number and then see the numbers bounce around as they change payment type.

I suppose we could do a combination -- show the guest "if you pay by check you get a 3% discount" or "if you pay by card it's a 3% surcharge", but don't add the actual surcharge until each payment is made.

But then what about refunds, do they get the surcharge amount back? Partial refunds?

It gets confusing fast :-/

BlueMtnCabins
May 3, 2018 2:13 PM
Joined Jun, 2016 1115 posts

almost like we need to show 2 quotes: if paid by check it will be $x; if by credit card, it will be $Y. And let them select which one to proceed with.

Chris B
May 3, 2018 11:01 PM
Joined Apr, 2018 13 posts

How about on the payment method add a checkbox as a surcharge flag with an entry field for the percent and allow a processing fee per transaction? That way if they make a payment with check it would never hit the flag and charge the additional fee. If they made a payment with paypal or other credit card method it would add the fee?

Ella
May 8, 2018 9:23 AM
Joined May, 2014 139 posts

I think the checkbox could work. Subscribing for updates.

BlueMtnCabins
May 11, 2018 2:03 PM
Joined Jun, 2016 1115 posts

Chris B said:

How about on the payment method add a checkbox as a surcharge flag with an entry field for the percent and allow a processing fee per transaction? That way if they make a payment with check it would never hit the flag and charge the additional fee. If they made a payment with paypal or other credit card method it would add the fee?

I do not see checkbox in payment methods? or is it future? then yes.

Chris B
Dec 9, 2018 1:00 AM
Joined Apr, 2018 13 posts

It looks like Processing Fee/Discount was added for Payments. Yay, I can add a surcharge when people use PayPal!! When was this added? Can you explain the note: This will set the payment type rule on the booking so subsequent payments remain the same type? What happens if they make a payment by check? Just curious. So glad this is here!!

Chris Hynes
Dec 10, 2018 8:00 AM
OR Team Member Joined Oct, 2012 1400 posts

Yep, we added that a couple months back. I totally forgot to update this thread, thanks for reminding me!

So what we did was to add a processing fee or discount on the payment method. That will be displayed on the quote reservation flow and add a line item for that percentage on the booking when its done. It'll also set a payment type rule on the booking so if the guest initially reserves with a check and gets a discount, for example, they have to keep using checks for the second payment.

You can always switch up the rule (on the Rules tab of the booking), but that's what happens by default.

BlueMtnCabins
Dec 10, 2018 8:29 AM
Joined Jun, 2016 1115 posts

Chris Hynes said:

It'll also set a payment type rule on the booking so if the guest initially reserves with a check and gets a discount, for example, they have to keep using checks for the second payment.

This latter part is awesome! I had people try to do deposit by check to get discount and then pay balance by cc. This totally solves it! Thanks so much

John T
Jan 5, 2024 5:06 PM
Joined Sep, 2023 3 posts

Is adding a discount or processing fee on the payment method still an option?  If so, where do I find it?      

BlueMtnCabins
Jan 5, 2024 5:19 PM
Joined Jun, 2016 1115 posts

You can add a processing fee yourself as "surcharge" , place it below tax. You can also add an optionally selectable  processing discount applicable only when non-CC payment is used 

John T
Jan 5, 2024 6:08 PM
Joined Sep, 2023 3 posts

Thank you sir!