No More Credit Card Fees
How tobacco retailers eliminate credit card processing fees and keep 100% of their sales revenue.
What Is Credit Card Fee Pass-Through?
Credit card fee pass-throughis a pricing model where the credit card processing fee is added to the customer's total when they pay with a credit card. Customers who pay with cash or debit pay the regular listed price.
The concept is simple: credit card companies charge merchants a fee on every transaction. With credit card fee pass-through, that cost is transparently passed to the customer who chooses to use a credit card, rather than being absorbed by the retailer.
This is not a new idea. Gas stations have offered "cash price" vs. "credit price" for decades. Fee pass-through applies the same principle to retail checkout, and it is fully supported within TORO POS.
See It In Action
A short walkthrough of the TORO credit card fee pass-through flow -- enabling it, what the customer sees at checkout, and how it shows up on your daily settlement.
Your Rate, Flat 2.85%
Once you enable credit card fee pass-through with TORO, your processing rate is changed to a flat 2.85%. That is all-inclusive: interchange, assessments, processor rate, and authorization fees are all rolled in. You set TORO to pass the 2.85% on to the customer at the terminal -- or pass on less and split the difference -- and it is seamless to you as a user.
A Single Day on Your Account
Assume you pass the full 2.85% to the customer. Here is exactly how it plays out:
- Credit Card Sales
- $1,000.00
- Service Fee Collected
- $28.50
- Total Processed
- $1,028.50
- Deposited to Your Account
- $1,000.00
Fees are deducted before your deposit -- $28.50 goes to the processor, $1,000 lands in your bank.
Monthly Additional Debit
$6.25
$5.00 statement fee + $1.25 MasterCard location fee. Annual fees and PCI fees may apply separately.
Implementation Window
~2 weeks
Has to be implemented at the start of a month. Let us know two weeks before the start of the month you want to go live.
Ready to switch?
Message us in WhatsApp in your TORO-CC group, or email email us if you don't have access yet.
How It Works
A straightforward process that takes minutes to set up and saves thousands per year.
Enable in TORO Settings
Navigate to Settings > Payment > Credit Card Fee Pass-Through and toggle it on. Set your pass-through percentage (up to 2.85% to fully match your TORO flat rate, or lower if you want to split the fee with your customer).
Post Required Signage
Print and display the fee pass-through notice at your store entrance and at each register. TORO provides ready-to-print templates that meet card network requirements.
Process Sales as Normal
Ring up sales the same way you always do. When a customer pays with a credit card, the fee is automatically calculated and added as a separate line item on the receipt.
Keep Your Savings
At the end of the month, your processing statement shows the fees collected from customers offsetting your processing costs. Your net processing expense: $0.
What the Customer Sees
Credit Card Payment
Fee shown as a separate line item on receipt
Cash Payment
No processing fee -- regular price
An Actual Printed Receipt
From a live TORO store. The Service Fee appears as its own line item, fully disclosed.
Real Savings Example
For a tobacco shop processing $50,000/month in credit card sales
| Metric | Without Pass-Through | With Pass-Through |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly CC Volume | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| Your Effective Rate | ~2% | $0 |
| Monthly Processing Cost | -$1,000 | $0 |
| Annual Processing Cost | -$12,000 | $0 |
| 3-Year Processing Cost | -$36,000 | $0 |
$12,000 saved per year
$50,000/month in CC sales x 2% rate = $1,000/month you never pay
Customer Notice Templates
Card networks require visible notice at the entrance and at the point of sale. Here is the example notice we post on the front door and at the POS. You must check your local and state laws -- this might not be sufficient for your state, and is provided as a starting point only.
Legal Compliance
Credit card fee pass-through is legal at the federal level in the United States following the 2013 settlement in the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation case. However, individual states have their own laws regarding passing card fees to customers.
As of early 2026, the majority of states allow fee pass-through, but some states have restrictions or prohibitions. You are responsible for verifying that credit card fee pass-through complies with the laws in your state before enabling it.
Key Compliance Requirements
- Check your state's laws -- Some states prohibit or restrict passing credit card fees to customers. Verify compliance before enabling.
- Post clear signage -- Card networks require visible notices at the store entrance and at the point of sale.
- Show the fee on the receipt -- The fee must appear as a separate line item. TORO handles this automatically.
- Do not pass fees through on debit cards -- Federal law prohibits passing card fees through on debit transactions. The processing terminal handles this distinction.
- Cap at 3% maximum -- Card network rules cap the fee at 3% or your actual cost of acceptance, whichever is lower.
Credit Card Fee Pass-Through FAQ
Is credit card fee pass-through legal?
In most U.S. states, yes. Credit card fee pass-through is legal at the federal level and in the majority of states. However, a handful of states have restrictions or outright bans. You must check your specific state's laws before enabling credit card fee pass-through. TORO does not provide legal advice -- consult with a local attorney or your state's attorney general office if you are unsure.
Does credit card fee pass-through apply to debit cards?
No. Under federal law (the Durbin Amendment), the fee cannot be applied to debit card transactions, even when the customer selects 'credit' at checkout. The processing terminal handles debit card detection — TORO does not detect card type automatically.
Will customers complain about the extra fee?
Most retailers report very few complaints. The fee is clearly disclosed on signage and on the receipt as a separate line item. Customers who prefer to avoid the fee can simply pay with cash or debit. Many gas stations and small businesses already use this model, so customers are increasingly familiar with it.
How much does the average retailer save?
It depends on your credit card volume. A store doing $50,000/month in credit card sales at a typical 2% processing rate would save $1,000/month -- that is $12,000 per year. Over three years, that is $36,000 in processing fees you never have to pay.
What is TORO's processing rate?
A flat 2.85% -- all-inclusive. That covers interchange, assessments, the processor rate, and authorization fees. There is no separate per-item, batch, or auth fee. The only additional monthly debit is $6.25 ($5.00 statement fee + $1.25 MasterCard location fee). Annual or PCI fees may apply separately.
How long does it take to set up?
About two weeks, and it has to be implemented at the beginning of a month. So if you want to be live on the 1st, we need to know two weeks before the start of that month.
Can I split the fee with my customer instead of passing all of it?
Yes. You can pass the full 2.85% to the customer, or pass on a lower amount and absorb the difference yourself. Whatever you do not pass on is simply deducted from your daily deposit.
Can I enable or disable it at any time?
Yes. Fee pass-through is a setting within TORO that you can toggle on or off. There is no contract or commitment. If you decide it is not right for your store, turn it off and you simply pay the standard processing rate.
Do I need special signage?
Yes. Card network rules (Visa, Mastercard) require that you post clear signage at the entrance and at the point of sale notifying customers of the fee. TORO provides templates you can print and display.
Stop Paying Processing Fees
See how credit card fee pass-through works in a live TORO demo with your real product data.