So... for those of us where it IS legal.... we need to have the client request to pay by card, then estimate what the charge will be and add it as a line item? Seems like quite the nuisance when it could be an easy click to turn it on where it is legal...

Yes that is the way you would have to do it
and to be totally legal, you would have to insure it is not a debit or prepaid card being used
and your business, on line or in store, has to tell folks that you do that and how much you add on before check out

Hello,

Here is a link to our full article about Intuit Payments Accounts as well as an excerpt below.

https://community.intuit.com/articles/1601397-accepting-credit-card-payments-the-basics 

Protect your account:

"There are a few guidelines you must follow to protect and manage your new account and also prevent fraud. Here's a list of dos and don'ts that can help protect you from losing your payments account and from incurring extra fees or fines.

• Don't charge any sort of usage fee for credit card transactions to offset the cost of accepting credit cards."

Actually this is not true (anymore), at least in California.  This was over turned in Jan of 2018 after being challenged.  Plenty of service providers are offering it.  It's called the Cash Discount program

https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/credit-cards-surcharges

I know this is an old post but think it requires a clarification. For CT anyway, the law specifically says the seller cannot collect a surcharge from the buyer. A convenience fee could be charged by a third party service that pays the seller the cash for their service or product.  Think MoneyGram or even an ATM sitting in the store instead of accepting credit. You can say we don't accept credit cards; however, if you want to pay us by credit card feel free to follow this link and pay with Super Special Bill Pay Co. who may charge you for the use of their services. Many municipalities, schools, and utility companies do that.

 

There are new merchant service companies that are using this loophole for POS services and are not charging the merchant the fee but the client directly.

I know this is an old post but think it requires a clarification. For CT anyway, the law specifically says the seller cannot collect a surcharge from the buyer. A convenience fee could be charged by a third party service that pays the seller the cash for their service or product.  Think MoneyGram or even an ATM sitting in the store instead of accepting credit. You can say we don't accept credit cards; however, if you want to pay us by credit card feel free to follow this link and pay with Super Special Bill Pay Co. who may charge you for the use of their services. Many municipalities, schools, and utility companies do that.

 

There are new merchant service companies that are using this loophole for POS services and are not charging the merchant the fee but the client directly.

It is no longer illegal to charge a credit card surcharge in Texas