Can you add a surcharge for card payments in Ireland?

You can't add a surcharge to payments made with ordinary consumer debit or credit cards in Ireland, because Regulation 86 of the European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 6 of 2018) bans charges on cards whose interchange fees are capped. Commercial cards issued to businesses are outside the ban, but any charge on them can't exceed your direct cost of accepting the card, and you must tell the payer before they pay. Offering a cheaper way to pay, such as direct debit or bank transfer, is often simpler.

In this article

The short version

• Surcharging consumer debit and credit cards is banned in Ireland.
• Commercial cards are outside the ban.
• Any permitted charge can't exceed your direct cost.
• You must tell the payer about a charge before they pay.
• Steering customers to cheaper methods avoids surcharging altogether.

The surcharging rules in one sentence each

The rules on card charges come from two places: an EU regulation caps the interchange fees on consumer cards, and the Irish Payment Services Regulations stop you charging extra for using those cards.

• You can't ask a customer to pay extra for using a card whose interchange fees are regulated, which covers consumer debit and credit cards.
• Citizens Information states that retailers can't charge consumers a surcharge for paying by debit or credit card, online or in shops.
• Commercial cards are outside the ban, because the EU interchange caps don't apply to them.
• Where a charge is allowed, it can't be more than the direct cost you bear for that payment method.
• If you request a charge or offer a reduction for a payment method, you have to tell the payer before the payment starts.
• A payment provider can't stop you offering a reduction for a particular payment method or steering customers towards one.

Whether the ban applies depends on the card rather than the customer. A business client paying with an ordinary personal card is using a consumer card, so the ban applies to that payment even though the invoice is to a company.

Consumer card or commercial card

Interchange is a fee set between the banks on each card payment. EU Regulation 2015/751 caps it at 0.2% of the payment on consumer debit cards and 0.3% for consumer credit cards, and those capped cards are the ones you can't surcharge.

A commercial card, in the same regulation, is a card issued to a business, a public sector body or a self-employed person, limited to business expenses, where payments are charged directly to that business's or person's account. All three parts need to be true. Before you treat a payment as a commercial card payment, you'd want to be able to answer these questions.

• Was the card issued to the business, public body or self-employed person, and not to an individual for personal use?
• Is it limited to business expenses?
• Do payments come straight out of the business's own account?
• Can your payment provider tell you, at the time of payment, that the card is commercial?

If you can't tell which kind of card is being used before the customer pays, the safer course is not to charge anything. Adding a fee to a consumer card payment by mistake would still breach the ban, whatever the customer's job title.

If you charge on commercial cards: a checklist

If you sell mainly to other businesses and want to pass card costs on for commercial cards, work through each point below and keep a record of how you decided.

1. Confirm the card is a commercial card under the definition above, for each payment you charge on.
2. Work out your direct cost for that payment. The fee your provider charges you to accept that card is the obvious starting point.
3. Set the charge at or below that cost. The Regulations don't allow a margin on top.
4. Tell the payer the amount of the charge before the payment starts, on the invoice, the payment page or both.
5. Show the charge as its own line, apart from the price of your goods or services, so the payer can see it.
6. Make sure no charge reaches a consumer card payment, including a director paying with a personal card.
7. Recheck the charge whenever your provider changes its prices.

The rules on surcharging are short, and how they apply to a particular card set-up can still be a matter of interpretation. Take legal advice before you add any card charge to your terms.

Ways to lower card costs without a surcharge

Steering customers towards a cheaper method is often easier than running a surcharge. The Payment Services Regulations stop a provider from preventing you doing that, and require you to tell the payer about any reduction before they pay.

• Offer SEPA direct debit to customers who pay you regularly. They sign a mandate once and you collect each payment on a date you've told them about.
• Put bank transfer details on every invoice, alongside a card option.
• Send payment links that show more than one way to pay, so customers can pick the one that suits them.
• If you offer a discount for a cheaper method, state it on the invoice before the customer pays.

Adfin takes SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and bank transfer, with payment links sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp. The standard price on cards is 20c + 1% with no cap. On SEPA direct debit and bank transfer the 1% part is capped at €2, so either of those payments, up to €2,000, costs at most €2.20. On a €1,200 invoice that's €12.20 by standard card through Adfin, or €2.20 by direct debit or bank transfer. You won't pay a monthly fee or a setup fee, and there's no contract to sign.

Common questions

Can I charge a fee for paying by credit card in Ireland? Not on consumer credit or debit cards, which Regulation 86 of S.I. 6 of 2018 bans surcharges on. Commercial cards are outside the ban, with any charge limited to your direct cost.

Can I surcharge business customers who pay by card? Only if they're paying with a commercial card, issued to the business for business expenses and charged to its account. A business customer using an ordinary personal card is paying with a consumer card.

How much can I charge on a commercial card? Any charge can't exceed the direct cost you bear for accepting that card. The fee your provider charges you for the payment is the obvious starting point, and legal advice can confirm what else counts.

Do I have to tell customers about a card charge in advance? The Payment Services Regulations require you to tell the payer about any charge, or any reduction, before the payment starts.

Can I offer a discount for paying by bank transfer or direct debit? The Regulations stop a payment provider from preventing you offering a reduction for a particular payment method. You need to tell the customer about the discount before they pay.

Does the surcharge ban apply online? Citizens Information says retailers can't charge consumers a surcharge for paying by debit or credit card, either online or in shops.

Sources

• Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 6/2018, European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/si/6/made/en/print
• EUR-Lex - Regulation (EU) 2015/751 on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions (accurate as of November 2026) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32015R0751
• Houses of the Oireachtas - Dáil written answer on card surcharges, 6 March 2018 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2018-03-06/50/
• Citizens Information - Payment Services Directive (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/personal-finance/eu-payments/psd2/