Biller Genie supports two ways to add a Technology Fee to a transaction so you can offset your cost of accepting cards: Surcharging and Dual Pricing. Both are configured under the same Technology Fees feature in your Biller Genie account, and both are designed to be card-brand compliant. The difference is in how the fee is presented to your customer — and that difference drives where each option is allowed, what it caps at, and what your customer sees on their receipt.
Technology Fees is an all-or-nothing setting at the account level. Once it's turned on, it applies to every transaction processed through your account — you cannot exempt a specific customer or invoice. This is a Visa and Mastercard compliance requirement: the fee has to be applied consistently and disclosed the same way to every customer. Showing one customer a fee and not another can put your processing account at risk.
This article gives you the high-level comparison so you can decide which flavor fits your business. For setup steps, the customer's checkout experience, and accounting reconciliation, see the linked articles at the bottom.
What Technology Fees are
Technology Fees is the Biller Genie feature that adds a small fee to credit card transactions (and, in some configurations, ACH transactions) to help you cover your cost of payment processing. The fee appears on your customer's invoice or receipt, and the proceeds sync back to your accounting software as a separate line item or sales receipt so your books reconcile cleanly.
Technology Fees come in two flavors:
- Surcharging — the invoice is presented at your original price. If the customer pays by credit card, a popup at checkout discloses the surcharge and the new total. Capped by card-brand rules.
- Dual Pricing — the invoice is presented showing both a card price and an ACH (or cash) price side-by-side from the start. No popup, no caps, no state restrictions.
How Surcharging works
With Surcharging, your invoice goes out at the price you quoted. The surcharge appears only if the customer chooses to pay with a credit card — and only after they're told about it. At the point of payment selection, Biller Genie shows a popup that clearly outlines the additional surcharge and the new total, so the customer can either accept the fee or switch to a non-surcharged payment method (debit, ACH, or cash) to avoid it.
Behind the scenes, Biller Genie checks the card's BIN (the first 6-8 digits, also called the Bank Identification Number) to confirm it's a credit card before applying the surcharge. If the BIN identifies the card as a debit or prepaid card, no surcharge is applied — these card types are protected from surcharging by card-brand rules.
How Dual Pricing works
With Dual Pricing, your customer sees two prices side-by-side from the moment they receive your invoice — a card price and an ACH (or cash) price. No popup is needed because the customer has full transparency upfront. They pick the payment method that matches the price they're willing to pay.
If your account doesn't have an ACH processing integration, the lower price displays as "Cash" instead. The pattern mirrors how gas-station pricing is shown at the pump — a familiar mental model for your customers.
At a glance: Dual Pricing vs Surcharging
| Surcharging | Dual Pricing | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee cap | Max 3% (2% in Colorado) | No minimum or maximum |
| Card types | Credit cards only — debit and prepaid are excluded by BIN check | All card types |
| Geography | Available in 46 states. Prohibited in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma. | Available in all 50 states |
| What the customer sees | Original invoice price; popup at checkout if paying by credit card with surcharge disclosure | Both card price and ACH (or cash) price shown side-by-side throughout |
| Receipt | Shows the surcharge as a separate line | Shows the price for the chosen payment method |
| Card-brand notification | Required — follow card-brand guidelines, notify your acquirer 30 days before turning it on | Not required |
| Compliance check | Verify with your merchant processor or legal team before going live | Verify with your merchant processor or legal team before going live |
State restrictions and fee caps
The restrictions below apply to Surcharging only. Dual Pricing is available in all 50 states with no state-level caps.
- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma: Surcharging is prohibited. If your business is registered in any of these states, choose Dual Pricing instead.
- Colorado: Surcharging is capped at 2%. Biller Genie automatically enforces this cap for Colorado-based accounts.
- All other states: Surcharging is allowed at up to 3%.
Glossary: Technology Fee, Surcharge, Convenience Fee, Service Fee
These four terms get used interchangeably in conversation, but they mean different things to card brands and to regulators. In Biller Genie:
- Technology Fee is Biller Genie's umbrella feature name. It covers both Surcharging and Dual Pricing.
- Surcharge is a fee added on top of the original price specifically when a customer chooses to pay by credit card. Card brands govern when and how it can be applied.
- Dual Pricing is the practice of showing two prices upfront — one for card and one for ACH or cash — so the customer chooses which price they're paying.
- Convenience Fee is a fee for the convenience of an alternate payment channel. Card brands have strict rules about when a merchant can charge one (typically only when the card channel is genuinely an alternate to the merchant's normal payment method). Biller Genie does not support convenience-fee programs directly.
- Service Fee is a fee added by certain regulated industries (mostly government, education, and utilities) on every transaction regardless of payment method. Biller Genie does not support service-fee programs directly.
When you talk to a customer about your fee, "Technology Fee" is the most accurate Biller Genie term. "Surcharge" works if you're using the Surcharging mode specifically. Avoid "convenience fee" and "service fee" — those have specific card-brand meanings that don't apply to most Biller Genie merchants.
Frequently asked questions
Can I turn Technology Fees on for some customers and off for others?
No. Technology Fees are a global account setting in Biller Genie — they apply to every transaction processed through your account, by design. Showing one customer a fee and not another can be a compliance violation that puts your processing account at risk. See Setting Up Technology Fees on Your Account for the full rationale.
Will a prepaid gift card be charged a Technology Fee under Surcharging?
No. Biller Genie checks the BIN on each transaction. If the BIN identifies the card as a prepaid card (or a debit card), no surcharge is applied.
When does the Technology Fee actually get added to the invoice?
Under Surcharging, the fee is added to the invoice after the credit card payment syncs to your accounting software. The fee line item is visible in the Biller Genie Merchant Portal and in your accounting software, but not in the original invoice your customer received.
Can I do both Surcharging and Dual Pricing on the same account?
No. You pick one mode at the account level. If your needs change you can switch, but the two modes don't operate at the same time.
Where can I see what the fee looks like to my customer?
See What Your Customer Sees: The Dual Pricing Checkout Experience or What Your Customer Sees: The Surcharging Checkout Experience for step-by-step screenshots of each flow.
Related articles
- Setting Up Technology Fees on Your Account
- What Your Customer Sees: The Dual Pricing Checkout Experience
- What Your Customer Sees: The Surcharging Checkout Experience
- Reconciling Technology Fees in Your Accounting Software
- Chart of Accounts: Mapping Your Accounts in Biller Genie — where the Technology Fee line item lives in your accounting software