A credit card payment method fee is a surcharge that’s added only when a customer chooses to pay by credit card at checkout. It helps offset credit card processing costs. Passing this fee to customers can help you protect your profit margins on credit card orders.
To set up a credit card payment method fee, there are three required setup steps in Magical Fees:
Create a fee rule (this defines what to charge and when)
Activate the sales channel (this is what actually turns the fee on in your storefront)
Disable accelerated checkouts (this prevents customers from bypassing fee rules)
Watch: "How to set up a credit card fee" for a video walkthrough:
Step 1 (Required) — Create the fee rule
1. Start a new rule
In the Shopify Admin, open the Magical Fees app.
To create a new rule, choose one of the following:
Click Add fee rules to enter the Create Function Method fee page.
Alternatively, if you create a fee rule from the Fee Rules page, you’ll see “Select a Method” pop up. Choose Function Method.
2. Fill in the basics
Title: Enter a clear name like “Credit Card Surcharge”.
Details (optional): Add a short customer-facing explanation like “A 3% surcharge will be added to all credit card transactions.”
Type: Select Order (because this fee is based on the order amount).
Customer consent: Leave Require consent ON. Credit card surcharges are not government-mandated fees, and Shopify requires customer consent before applying them.
What is considered a government-mandated fee?
Government-mandated fees are legally required charges imposed by a government authority, such as recycling fees, eco fees, or bottle deposits. Customer consent is not required for these types of fees.
Fees added at the merchant’s discretion, such as credit card surcharges, tariff surcharges, or service fees, are not government-mandated and require customer consent under Shopify’s policies.
3. Set the amount
Calculation: under Price select the Percentage option and enter the rate (for example: 3%).
Charge tax on this fee: Turn OFF unless you know this fee should be taxed.
Fee limits (optional):
Set a minimum fee if you need a floor (example: “Min $0.50”).
Set a maximum fee (example: “Max $25”) to prevent unusually large surcharges on big orders.
4. Choose what the percentage is based on
Under Order conditions, pick one:
Subtotal: Apply the percentage to the subtotal of items in cart (before taxes and shipping).
Total (only available on the Growth plan with Shopify Plus).
Subtotal conditions (optional): Use this only if you want the fee to apply only for certain cart subtotal ranges (for example, only above or below a specific amount).
5. Choose Sales channels
Sales channels control where this fee will apply. Select one or more channels you want this rule to run on:
Online Store: for checkout on your storefront.
Point of Sale (POS): for in-person checkout.
Draft Orders: for fees applied when creating draft orders.
Important: Payment method fees on POS
Payment method conditions, such as credit cards, are not supported on POS.
To charge a credit card fee on POS:
Create a POS-only rule. Select Point of Sale only and skip Choose payment methods.
When processing orders on POS, use the Manual tile to apply the fee when the customer pays by credit card.
If you also want this fee online, create a separate rule with payment method conditions and do not select POS on that rule.
Important: Payment method fees on Draft Orders
For stores on the Starter plan: Payment method conditions are not supported on Draft Orders.
Shopify Plus stores on the Growth Plan: Payment method conditions are supported on Draft Orders. The fee may appear on the draft order as $0.00 / Free until checkout, and is calculated at checkout if the customer chooses the Credit card payment method.
For more information about how Magical Fees works with draft orders, please read this article: Does Magical Fees work with draft orders?
6. Choose payment methods
Note: This step is only for rules with Online Store selected as the Sales Channel. Skip this step if your rule is POS-only.
Under Payment methods, click the Add payment methods button.
Select one or more payment methods:
Credit card (available for all plans)
PayPal (only available on Shopify Plus)
Shop Pay (only available on Shopify Plus)
7. Save the rule, and confirm the rule shows as Active at the top-right of the page
Step 2 (Required) — Activate the sales channel
Note: This is a one-time setup step. If you already completed it during your initial setup, you can skip it.
In the Magical Fees app, Click Add sales channels.
Under Online Store, turn on Activate app embed block. This step is required for fees to show in your online store.
Click the Activate app embed button.
Enter the theme editor, toggle on Magical Fees.
Click Save.
Under Online Store, turn on Hide Dynamic Checkout Buttons when Fees Apply so customers don’t bypass the flow where fees get added.
Click Enable in app embed button.
Enter the theme editor, toggle on Hide dynamic checkout buttons when fees apply.
Click Save.
For Shopify Plus stores on the Growth Plan, turn on the Checkout UI extension so Magical Fees can detect the customer’s selected payment method and display the correct fee at checkout.
Under Online Store, click the Checkout settings button.
In the Configurations section, click Customize next to the checkout that you want to edit.
From the Theme editor, go to the Checkout page, and under Order summary, click Add block.
Click Magical Product Fees to place the app block at the checkout.
Click the Magical Product Fees block, under the Checkout behavior section:
Enable Allow app to block checkout.
Enable Include block in Shop Pay.
Click Save.
Step 3 (Required) — Disable accelerated checkouts
Note: This is a one-time setup step. If you already completed it during your initial setup, you can skip it.
Payment method conditions are not compatible with accelerated checkout options (e.g., Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay). Customers may bypass the fee unless you disable accelerated checkout options. To remove accelerated checkout buttons:
In the Magical Fees app, click Settings in the left sidebar.
Under the Checkout section, check the box for Disable express checkout buttons.
Click Save.
How this fee will appear to customers
Store on the Starter plan: The fee will be added when the customer accepts it in the Online Store. If the customer declines the credit card fee and then pays with a credit card, the system will send a notification detailing the outstanding payment that includes the added fee. This is only supported for merchants using Shopify Payments.
Shopify Plus stores on the Growth Plan: The fee will be added in the checkout only when a customer pays by credit card.
Step 4 (Optional) — Help customers understand the fee
In the Magical Fees app, Click Add sales channels.
Under Online Store, turn on Associated Fees block if you want customers to see fee info on the product page.
Click the Activate button.
Enter the theme editor, Click Add block under Template.
Under the Apps section, choose Associated fees to add the block.
Click Save.
Under Online Store, turn on Fees Total block if you want to display a fee summary in the cart.
Click the Activate button.
Enter the theme editor, Click Add block under Template.
Under the Apps section, choose Fees total to add the block.
Click Save.
