What "zero fee" processing really is
In New Jersey, a surcharge also cannot exceed your actual cost to process the payment [5]. Every zero fee plan works one of two ways. Either a fee is added to credit card sales (a surcharge), or your posted price becomes the card price and cash customers get a lower price (a cash discount). In both cases your processor still charges for every card sale. The plan arranges for your customer's payment to cover that charge.
Here is one published example. Helcim's Fee Saver page offers to "Accept credit cards at 0%" by passing the fee to customers at 3.0% in person and 3.0% online [1]. Its help page explains that the fee shows on the customer's receipt as a "surcharge" for in-person sales and a "convenience fee" online, and that customers can avoid it by paying with ACH, debit or cash [2]. Other processors build the same feature in; Stax lists "Built in surcharging compliance" among its subscription features [8].
Three names, three different rulebooks
Surcharge: a fee on a credit card sale, on top of your posted price. Visa caps it at 3% in the U.S. [4].
Cash discount: a lower price for cash, off a posted card price. No network cap, but it must be a real discount [4].
Convenience fee: a flat fee for paying through a channel outside your normal way of selling, such as phone payments for a business that normally takes payment in person. Visa's rules limit it tightly [4].
Who pays, sale by sale
Your customer pays the fee on credit card sales. You still pay for anything the fee cannot reach. The biggest gap is debit. Visa's rules say U.S. merchants cannot add a surcharge to debit or prepaid cards [4], and in the Federal Reserve's 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, debit cards were 30% of consumer payments by number in 2024, against 35% for credit cards [6]. Put those two together and close to half of card payments by count can be debit, which a surcharge plan does not cover.
| Payment | Who pays | Merchant's cost |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card, in person | Customer, 3.0% [1] | Covered by the customer fee |
| Debit card with PIN | Merchant | 1.0% + 8¢ per sale [1] |
| ACH bank transfer | Merchant | 0.5% + 25¢, capped at $6 [1] |
| Customer declines to pay the fee | Merchant, if you let them pay by card anyway | Your regular processing rate [2] |
So a shop that takes $20,000 a month in card sales, $8,000 of it on PIN debit at an average $40 sale, still pays about $96 a month on debit alone under that price list (1.0% of $8,000 is $80, plus 200 sales at 8¢ is $16) [1]. That is not zero, but it may still be far below what you pay today. The honest test is your whole bill before and after.
The rules a zero fee program has to follow
| Rule | Source | What it means for the program |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card surcharge maximum is 3.00% in the U.S. | Visa Core Rules 5.5.1.8 [4] | A 3.5% or 4% fee is out of bounds |
| No surcharge on debit or prepaid | Visa Core Rules and merchant guide [4][7] | The terminal must tell debit from credit |
| Tell your acquirer 30 days before surcharging | Visa merchant guide [7] | Ask your processor whether it filed this for you |
| Surcharge no greater than your actual cost | N.J.S.A. 56:8-156.2(a) [5] | A flat 3% can be too high on low-cost cards |
| Post the surcharge amount before the sale | N.J.S.A. 56:8-156.2(b) [5] | Signs at the entrance and register; menu for restaurants; checkout page online |
| Convenience fee must be a flat amount, not a percentage | Visa Core Rules 5.5.2.1 [4] | A percentage online fee is not a convenience fee under Visa's table |
The convenience fee row trips up a lot of programs. Visa's table says a U.S. convenience fee must be "a flat or fixed amount, regardless of the value of the payment due", must apply to every form of payment in that channel, can only be charged in a card-absent sale, cannot be charged "solely for the acceptance of a Card", and cannot be added on top of a surcharge [4]. If a program calls a percentage online fee a convenience fee, ask your processor which of Visa's rules it is relying on.
Some states restrict surcharging. Visa's 2023 merchant guide lists Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Oklahoma [7]. Helcim switches off in-person Fee Saver in Connecticut, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts and Oklahoma [1]. New Jersey allows surcharges within its actual-cost cap [5].
Why a flat 3% can break New Jersey's cost cap
New Jersey does not let a surcharge be "greater than the actual cost to the seller to process the credit card payment" [5]. Look at the comparison table at the top of this page. On a basic Visa credit card dipped in your store, interchange on a $50 sale is about 86 cents [3]. On interchange-plus pricing at Helcim's published in-person markup of 0.40% + 8¢ [9], the processor adds 28 cents, for about $1.14 before network fees. A flat 3% fee is $1.50.
That gap is the risk. A one-size fee is simple to run, but your cost is not one size. If you surcharge in New Jersey, set the fee from your own statements, keep those statements, and remember the Division of Consumer Affairs can ask to see your records [5]. The fee also has to stay at or under 3% for Visa, even when a card costs you more [4].
Questions to ask before you sign a zero fee plan
- Is this a surcharge or a cash discount? Show me what the receipt says for each.
- What do I pay on debit, PIN debit, ACH, and on sales where the customer declines the fee?
- How is the customer fee set, and how does it stay at or under my actual cost in New Jersey [5]?
- Who sends Visa's 30-day surcharge notice to the acquirer [7]?
- What are the monthly fees, the contract term and the equipment terms? A plan with no per-sale cost can still carry a lease.
- What did my total bill look like for a business like mine, before and after?
Then compare that total with what a fair price would cost if you kept absorbing the fee. Sometimes lowering the fee beats passing it on, because nothing changes for your customers. BatchOut, our own processing service, can review a statement either way. See also surcharging vs cash discount and cash discount programs.