➥ What is Surcharge
With surcharge, merchants can pass on the fees associated with accepting business and international cards to their customers, helping them improve their profit margins.
Note: that based on EU legislation in some countries (PSD2), some merchants are allowed to forward such charges to their customers, depending on the card type used.
➥ When does Surcharge apply?
The Surcharge service applies when all of the following conditions are met:
The merchant has activated the Surcharge service.
The card type is eligible.
The payment channel supports Surcharge (for example, Card Not Present transactions via Viva SmartCheckout).
➥ Where does Surcharge apply?
The Surcharge service can be applied to the following transaction types:
Card Present transactions (CP)
Card Not Present transactions (CnP) via Viva SmartCheckout, as of 22/01/2026
➥ How Surcharge works
Card Present transactions (POS)
When the cardholder taps their card on the Card terminal the service is enabled
The Viva.com Terminal app will check the card's eligibility
At the final transaction screen, the cardholder will be given the option to either Accept or Reject the Surcharge fee
If the cardholder disputes the process, they may select another card.
Card Not Present transactions (SmartCheckout)
Once the cardholder enters their card details, the system calculates and displays the applicable surcharge amount
The surcharge fee is shown clearly before the payment is completed
At the final payment step, the cardholder can review the total amount, including the surcharge, before proceeding with the transaction.
➥ How to view Surcharge transactions
All merchants supporting Surcharge Amount Functionality are able to view the purchases with Surcharge via Selfcare.
In the Advanced Search of the Section Sales -> Sales Transactions, there is a new section in the search engine giving the option to the merchant to retrieve only purchases with Surcharge (like the existing features for TIP and Loyalty)
➥ How to enable Surcharge
The feature can be enabled and disabled by the merchant by raising a request to Customer Support.
Note:
As of 22/01/2026, for merchants who have already activated the Surcharge service for Card Present transactions, the service will be automatically available on Viva SmartCheckout.
For terminals, transactions, cards and features that support Surcharge check here.