PbN Payments Fee Structure and Surcharge Details

1. Transaction Fee Structure

When you process payments, transaction fees vary depending on the type of card and how the payment is made. Here’s a quick breakdown:

To avoid overcharging your patients, you can apply a maximum surcharge of 2.69%. This ensures the lowest percentage rate is used. Any remaining fees above this rate are your responsibility as the practice.

2. What is a Surcharge?

A surcharge is an extra fee you can add when a patient pays with a credit card. This fee helps cover the costs associated with processing the credit card payment.

3. How Surcharges Work: Patient vs. Practice Costs

Example:

If a patient makes a $100 payment online using a Visa credit card:

• Patient's Cost: You can charge a maximum surcharge of 2.69%. If you do, the patient would pay an extra $2.69, making their total payment $102.69.
• Practice's Cost: The total transaction fee would be 2.90% of $102.69 + $0.30, which equals $3.28. Since the patient only covered $2.69, your practice would need to pay the remaining $0.59.

So, after fees, the net amount your practice would receive is $99.41.

Using this table as a guide, try this calculator to figure out fees per transaction.

Debit Cards

Surcharges are not allowed on debit card transactions. The patient will only pay the purchase amount; your practice will cover the full transaction fee.

• Example: For a $100 debit card payment, the transaction fee is 2.90% + $0.30, so your practice would cover $3.20. You would receive a net amount of $96.80.

If the transaction is made via Card Present/POS, the transaction fee is 1.50% + $0.25; the practice would be responsible for paying $1.50 + $0.25 = $1.75.

• Example: For a $100 debit card payment that is Card Present/POS the practice covers a $1.75 transaction fee and receives a net amount of $98.25.

4. Situations Where Surcharging is Not Allowed

There are certain cases where you cannot apply a surcharge:

• Debit Cards: No surcharges are permitted; the practice absorbs all processing fees.
• Specific U.S. States: Some states prohibit surcharges on credit card transactions. 

  • Connecticut

  • Massachusetts

  • Maine

  • Puerto Rico
  • Oklahoma
  • Colorado caps surcharges at 2%
• Canadian Provinces: Quebec bans surcharges entirely. Other provinces allow them but limit the surcharge to 2.4% of the transaction amount.

Payment Processing Time

• Debit and Credit Card Payments: Typically take 3-5 business days to process and deposit into your bank account.
• ACH/Direct Bank Account Payments: Typically take 5-7 business days to process and deposit.