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Credit Card Surcharge Calculator

Enter your target amount and card fee to find the surcharge to charge.

How it is calculated

charge = amount ÷ (1 − fee ÷ 100), surcharge = charge − amount and effective rate = surcharge ÷ amount × 100. Amount is the sum you want to keep after the processor takes its cut, and fee is the processor's percentage rate (2.9 means 2.9%). Dividing, rather than multiplying by the fee, makes the fee on the larger charged total come out to exactly the amount you wanted. The fee must be from 0 up to but not including 100, and the amount must be above zero; otherwise there is no result. Only a percentage fee is modelled: a fixed per-transaction fee is not included. Whether a surcharge is allowed, and how high, depends on the country, state and card network rules, so check yours.

Worked example

You want to net $500 and the processor charges 2.9%. Charge = 500 ÷ (1 − 0.029) = 500 ÷ 0.971 = $514.93. Surcharge = 514.93 − 500 = $14.93. The fee taken on $514.93 at 2.9% is about $14.93, leaving $500. The effective surcharge on the original price is 2.99%, not 2.9%.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Multiplying the amount by the fee percentage (500 × 2.9% = $14.50), which leaves you slightly short because the fee is also charged on the surcharge.
  • Entering the fee as a decimal (0.029) instead of a percent (2.9); the tool would treat it as 0.029%.
  • Forgetting the fixed part of the processor fee (for example a per-transaction amount), which this tool does not include.
  • Showing customers the surcharge rate 2.9% when the effective rate on their price is 2.99%, a mismatch with some surcharge disclosure and cap rules.
  • Applying a surcharge where it is prohibited or above the permitted cap; the calculator does not check the rule.

About this calculator

A credit card surcharge is an extra amount added to a sale to offset the processing fee the merchant is charged by the card network and payment processor, so that after the fee is deducted, the merchant still nets exactly the amount they intended. Simply adding the fee percentage to the price undercharges the customer, because the fee is calculated on the final charged total, not the original target amount — the correct formula divides instead: charge = target amount ÷ (1 − fee rate), which solves for the total that, after the percentage fee is taken out, leaves the merchant with the target net.

Retailers, contractors, and service businesses use this calculation when passing card processing costs on to customers, which in the US and many other jurisdictions is legal but regulated — surcharges are typically capped at a maximum percentage (often around 3–4%) by card network rules, must be disclosed to the customer, and are outright prohibited in a handful of states, so the fee rate entered should match what’s actually permitted. Note that such caps are usually written as a percentage of the transaction amount, while this tool grosses the fee up by dividing by (1 − fee): the surcharge it gives is a higher share of the sale than the fee you enter (a 3% fee becomes a 3.09% surcharge), so compare the effective surcharge rate it shows, not the fee, with the cap. Say how much you need to receive after the card fee and what the fee rate is, and it shows the surcharge to add so the net lands on that amount.

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  • Editorial team

    The third result, the effective surcharge rate, is the one to compare with any cap or disclosure rule, because it is measured against the original price and comes out above the processor's headline rate. To cover a fixed per-transaction fee too, add that fee to the amount you want to net before entering it. Post the percentage and fixed fee you are quoted if you want to compare setups.

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