What this article covers: Automated Credit Card Surcharging on standard DSP credit card payments and payment links.
Surcharges on BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) and Wellness Plan subscription payments are applied automatically at fixed rates and are not configured or managed through this workflow - they are not covered in this article.
What is card surcharge?
Card surcharge lets your clinic add a small fee to credit card payments to help recover processing costs. The surcharge is collected at the time of payment - your sale, invoice, and production figures are never modified. It lives entirely in the payment record, keeping your accounting clean.
‼️This feature is available only to clinics using Digitail Secure Payments (DSP).
How this helps your daily work
Role | How it helps |
Practice managers / Admins | Configure a surcharge rate in Administration that offsets Stripe processing fees without touching invoice totals or production reporting. |
Receptionists / Front desk | See the surcharge clearly displayed in the payment modal before confirming - and waive it for individual clients when needed. |
Pet Parents (online) | View an itemised surcharge breakdown on a payment link before completing payment. |
Where to find it
Admin setup: Administration - Clinic Profile - Preferences - Inventory & Billing
At time of payment: The surcharge section appears automatically in the Add Payment modal when a DSP card payment is being processed.
Viewing surcharge on a payment: Open the Patient's Records or Counter Sale - the surcharge is shown in the payments table alongside the payment amount.
How to set up card surcharge
Before you start:
Your clinic must be set up on Digitail Secure Payments (DSP) as the default payment provider.
You need an Administration or Billing Manager role to access these settings.
Before enabling surcharging, confirm that it is legally permitted in your state or province and that your chosen rate and tax settings comply with local requirements. Digitail does not manage or verify legal compliance on your behalf.
Steps:
Go to Administration - Clinic Profile - Preferences.
Scroll down to the Inventory & Billing section.
Check Enable credit card surcharge.
Enter your Surcharge percentage (%) - the maximum allowed in Digitail is 3%. Ensure your chosen rate complies with the legal requirements of your state or province.
Under Surcharge Taxability, choose:
- Taxable (blended rate) - the surcharge will be taxed using a composite rate calculated automatically from the taxability of the sale's line items. Recommended for most clinics.
- Not taxable - the surcharge will not incur additional tax.Click Save.
⚠️ This setting affects all DSP card payments processed at your clinic. Your clinic is responsible for ensuring your surcharge rate, tax setting, and client disclosure practices comply with the laws of your state or province.
Taking a card payment with surcharge
Once surcharge is enabled, the Add Payment modal calculates and displays the surcharge automatically when a card payment is initiated.
Click on Add Payment from the Billing section of a sale, Counter Sale or Health Card as usual.
Enter the payment amount and select Card as the Payment Type.
Review the surcharge section that appears:
Surcharge - the calculated surcharge amount (non-editable, calculated from your configured rate)
Total Client Payment - the full amount that will be sent to the terminal or card on file
Inform the client of the surcharge amount before confirming the payment.
If the client is paying by debit card, uncheck the Surcharge checkbox before proceeding.
Click Send to Terminal or Send to Terminal & Preview Receipt to complete the payment.
‼️Debit card - required action: The system cannot automatically identify debit cards. If the client is paying by debit, you must manually uncheck the Surcharge checkbox before confirming.
Surcharging debit cards is not permitted in the US or Canada - this is a staff training requirement, not a system safeguard.
Other things you can do
Waive the surcharge for a specific payment
You can remove the surcharge on a per-payment basis - for example, when a client presents a debit card, or you choose to absorb the fee.
In the Add Payment modal, uncheck the Surcharge checkbox.
The Total Client Payment will update to reflect the payment amount without surcharge.
Complete the payment as normal.
View surcharge on an invoice
The sale invoice total is never modified by the surcharge. After a payment with surcharge is recorded, the surcharge appears
as a separate column in the Payment section of a sale - showing at total surcharge including any relevant tax
as a notation in the payments section of the invoice - shown as +Surcharge: [amount] alongside the payment entry.
View surcharge in reporting
Surcharge data appears in payment-level reports only - it is never included in revenue or production figures.
Payments Report - includes Surcharge and Surcharge Tax columns per payment row. Go to Reports - Billing & Payments - Payments Report.
Payments Report Export - includes Surcharge and Surcharge Tax columns
DSP Reconciliation Export - includes surcharge and tax columns for reconciling against Stripe payouts. (Coming Soon)
Tips and best practices
Inform clients of the surcharge before confirming payment - every time. This is a legal requirement in most jurisdictions. We recommend displaying signage at your front desk and verbally notifying clients at the time of payment. Your clinic is responsible for meeting disclosure requirements in your state or province.
Always confirm how the client is paying before confirming the payment. If they're using a debit card, uncheck the surcharge in the modal - there is no automatic detection, and the modal displays a reminder to prompt you.
Surcharges are not refunded on returns. When you process a refund, the product price and applicable sales tax are returned as normal, but the surcharge is not. Let clients know this at the time of payment.
Your clinic is responsible for rate and tax compliance. Digitail allows up to 3% - confirm the legal maximum for your state or province and set your rate accordingly. Choose the taxability option that reflects your local requirements.
Surcharge will not appear on the invoice as a line item. The sale is never modified. The surcharge appears as a notation in the invoice payment section only.
BNPL and Wellness Plan surcharges are not covered here. Those are applied at fixed rates and handled separately - this article only applies to standard DSP card payments and payment links.
Common Questions
Why doesn't the surcharge show on the invoice as a line item?
That's intentional. Surcharge is a payment processing event, not a sale event - your invoice and sale totals are never modified. After payment, the surcharge appears as a notation in the invoice payment section (e.g. "+Surcharge: $1.80"), and the full breakdown is available in the Payments Report.
A client was charged a surcharge but paid by debit - what do I do?
The system cannot automatically detect debit cards. The staff member processing the payment needed to manually uncheck the surcharge before confirming. If this happened, contact your Practice Manager to arrange a manual correction and make sure your front desk team is trained on this step.
A manual correction options:
perform a Refund on the payment for the surcharge amount
add the amount to Client Credit using the Issue Credit Note from the Heath Card
Can I waive the surcharge for a specific client?
Yes. Uncheck the Surcharge checkbox in the Add Payment modal before confirming. The total sent to the terminal will update automatically.
What surcharge rate should I set?
The maximum allowed in Digitail is 3%. The correct rate for your clinic depends on the legal requirements of your state or province. We recommend confirming the applicable cap with your legal or accounting advisor before enabling the feature.
Do I need to tell clients about the surcharge?
Yes - this is a legal requirement in most US states and Canadian provinces. Your clinic is responsible for informing clients at the time of payment and displaying appropriate signage. Digitail does not manage disclosure compliance on your behalf.
Will surcharge appear in vet production or revenue reports?
No. Surcharge is excluded from all production and revenue reporting. It appears only in the Payments Report and DSP Reconciliation Export as a pass-through cost.
Can I set different rates for BNPL or wellness plan payments?
No. The BNPL and the wellness plan subscription fees are currently excluded from surcharging. Neither is covered in this article. Only the standard DSP credit card rate is configurable.
Why does Stripe show a slightly higher charge than expected?
Stripe charges its own processing fee on the full transaction amount, including the surcharge portion. This is a structural limitation of how Stripe works and can't be avoided when surcharging through Stripe.