Payments now has surcharging capabilities, facilitated through the Xplor Pay Empower program (previously known as Clearent). With surcharging enabled, practices can now pass on credit card processing fees to the patient using surcharging, helping reduce operation costs for the practice.

To join our Empower Surcharging Program, fill out the form here.

Surcharging is when a practice applies a fee to a transaction when a customer pays for their service using a credit card. The surcharge amount cannot exceed the cost of processing and is capped at 3%.

Surcharging is an optional feature that can only be utilized by practices who are approved to be on the Empower Program through Xplor Pay that wish to pass the credit card fees onto their patients.

Xplor Pay requires merchants applying surcharge fees to display informational signage at multiple checkpoints within the practice. Xplor Pay makes mandatory signage simple by providing free signs, stickers, and decals along with an easy to use online order entry process.

Signage is required at the practice entrance (ie, front door) as well as the point of transaction (ie, front desk, register, etc).

Once your practice has been approved to the Xplor Pay Empower program, surcharging features will be enabled in your Engagement Payments platform on your chosen effective date.

Enabling surcharging will apply surcharge fees to all patients that currently have an active payment plan and are using a credit card to make payments on that payment plan. Once surcharging has been enabled in Engagement, all patients with an active payment plan at your practice will receive an automated email (see template below). This email will inform them that credit card payments will have a 3% surcharge fee added for all future payments. This automated email is standardized and cannot be customized.

When collecting payment at a physical or virtual terminal, you'll see the amount of the surcharge fee as well as following surcharging note: "There is a 3% surcharge fee for use of a credit card. This fee does not apply when a debit card is used."

In the Transactions tab of the Engagement Payments dashboard, you'll see a Surcharge Fee column. This column will show the surcharge fee portion which is included in the transaction total.

When making a payment online within the patient portal, patients will be notified of the surcharging fee during checkout.

Surcharging is when a practice applies a fee to a transaction when a customer pays for their service using a credit card. The surcharge amount cannot exceed the cost of processing and is capped at 3%, but may vary depending on your state.

Surcharging is prohibited in five states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Oklahoma. If your practice is located in any of those states, you will not be eligible to enable surcharging in Engagement Payments.

Because state and local laws vary widely and change frequently, you should consult a legal advisor if you have questions about what is permitted in your state. Dental Intelligence does not provide legal advice.

Xplor Pay requires merchants applying surcharge fees to display informational signage at multiple checkpoints within the practice. Xplor Pay makes mandatory signage simple by providing free signs, stickers, and decals along with an easy to use online order entry process.

Signage is required at the practice entrance (ie, front door) as well as the point of transaction (ie, front desk, register, etc).

On the patient payment receipt, you'll see a 'Surcharge' line item. The dollar amount shown there is the fee that the patient paid.

You can also see a breakdown of the surcharge fee and the service amount in the Transactions tab of the Payments dashboard.

No. Once Xplor Pay sends the fees to the card merchant, our system will not refund them. Minimize the issue of disputes and chargebacks by disclosing upfront that the surcharge fee is non-refundable.
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No. Debit card transactions are not subject to surcharging.