Owneli offers two ways to pass card costs on — a card surcharge added to card payments, or a cash discount taken off non-card ones — plus a separate Add service charge action for a flat fee line on any sale. Configure the card-fee mode under Settings → Payments, in the payment policy's Card fees section.
What's the difference between a surcharge and a cash discount?
| Surcharge | Cash discount | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | A percentage is added when the client pays by card | A percentage is taken off when they don't |
| Cap | 3% maximum | No cap |
| Legal guard | Disabled in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and until you confirm card-network registration | None |
| At the till | Automatic on card tenders | A green chip — Apply {pct}% cash discount — the cashier taps |
| On the receipt | Its own labelled row, e.g. Card processing fee | An ordinary discount with your configured label |
Both use the Card fee percentage and Receipt label you configure; per-location overrides replace the business setting wholesale.
How the surcharge is applied
- External terminal payments: surcharged by default, because Owneli can't see whether the tapped card was credit or debit. If it was debit, tick Debit card — waive the fee before charging.
- Card on file: surcharged only when the saved card is a credit card — debit cards on file are never surcharged.
- Cash, check, gift card, package and membership tenders: never surcharged.
The disclosure is up front: before you charge, the screen shows the fee line and Total charged to card — payment plus tip plus surcharge — and the charge button reads that full amount. The percentage is computed server-side from your policy, so a stale screen can't over- or under-charge.
Service charges
⋮ → Add service charge on a sale opens a small panel: a Charge label (default "Service charge") and an Amount, added as its own cart line — use it for an event gratuity, a call-out fee, or any flat charge. It prints as a normal line item, carries no tax, and isn't a tip — it doesn't enter tip splits.
Common questions
Why wasn't the surcharge added to a card payment?
Either the card-fee mode is off, the saved card was debit, someone ticked the debit waiver, or your location's rules (state exclusion, missing registration acknowledgement) disable it.
Is the surcharge applied to the tip?
The surcharge percentage applies to the card payment amount; Total charged to card shows exactly what will land on the card before you commit.
Can the cash discount apply automatically?
No — it's a one-tap chip at the till, and it only offers itself when no other manual discount is on the sale. It applies as a normal percentage discount, so tax recalculates correctly.
Is a service charge shared with providers like a tip?
No. A service charge is revenue on the sale, deliberately unattributed — if the client meant it as gratuity, take it as a tip instead so it flows through tip splits.