How Credit Card Surcharges and Payment Processing Work in Planning Pod (Using Stripe)

Planning Pod offers the ability to add a credit card surcharge to help cover the processing fees associated with payments made via credit card. This feature is optional and can be enabled in your account settings.

If you’ve opted to apply a surcharge, when your client pays an invoice with a credit card, a small percentage surcharge is added to the total amount. This surcharge helps cover the processing fees charged by our payment processor, Stripe.

The process described below is specific to Stripe, one of our preferred integrated payment processor.

Setting Up Credit Card Surcharges

1. Enable Surcharges in Account Settings:
   To start applying surcharges, you first need to enable this feature in your account settings under the Payment Processing Settings. Once enabled, Planning Pod will automatically add a small percentage surcharge to any payments made with a credit card.
2. How Surcharges Are Applied:
   When your client pays an invoice using a credit card, Planning Pod adds the surcharge percentage to the total payment amount. For example, if your invoice is $1,000 and you’ve set a 3% surcharge, the total payment amount will be $1,030.

Payment Processing with Stripe

1. Processing the Payment:
   The total amount (invoice payment + surcharge) is processed by Stripe, our payment processor. Stripe then calculates their processing fees (typically 3.2% + $0.30 per transaction) based on the total payment amount.
2. Depositing the Funds:
   After Stripe deducts their fees, they will deposit the remaining balance into your attached bank account according to their policies.
3. Invoice Updates in Planning Pod:
   The original invoice payment amount and transaction number will be reflected in your Planning Pod invoice, and the balance due will be adjusted accordingly. Please note that the surcharge does not appear on the invoice itself, as it is treated as a separate charge.

Important Notes and Exceptions

• Debit Card Payments:
  Surcharges cannot be applied to debit card payments. If a client uses a debit card, Stripe will automatically refund the surcharge amount, and this will appear as a "partial refund" in your Stripe account. However, processing fees from Stripe will still be charged to you as the merchant.
• ACH Payments:
  No surcharge is added for ACH payments. However, you will still be charged a nominal processing fee by Stripe (typically 0.8% with a maximum of $5).
• Understanding Processing Fees:
  It’s important to remember that while surcharges help offset the cost of processing fees, they may not always match the exact amount charged by Stripe. Planning Pod applies the surcharge before sending the transaction to Stripe, and Stripe’s fees are then assessed on the total charge.
  
  

Interested in learning more about Stripe? Check out this article to learn more about Stripes features and benefits: Using Stripe as your Payment Processor in Planning Pod

Need Help?

If you have any questions or need further assistance with setting up or understanding credit card surcharges and payment processing in Planning Pod, feel free to reach out to support@planningpod.com or reach out to your Customer Success Manager. We’re here to help!