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Managing Convenience Fees

Convenience Fees in OPSCOM allow administrators to add an additional flat-rate charge directly to user payments, managed entirely within the OPSCOM system. This feature provides flexibility to offset processing costs, incentivize certain payment methods, or cover administrative burdens, distinct from any transaction fees imposed by external payment providers.

Difference Between Transaction Fees and Convenience Fees

It's crucial to understand the distinction between these two types of fees:

  • Transaction feesFees: These are charges applied by your payment provider and(e.g., Conveniencecredit fees:

    Transactioncard feesprocessor) for processing a payment. They are independent of OPSCOM,OPSCOM's whichinternal settings. Depending on your setup, OPSCOM and end-users may not be directly aware of these fees as they are managed solely by your payment provider. Depending on how it’s setup end users and OPSCOM itself may not know of any such Transaction fees since it's all managed on the payment providersprovider.
    • end.

  • Convenience feesFees: on the other handThese are additional charges that are managed and applied directly through OPSCOM.OPSCOM. For example, ouryour OPSCOM system can add a $5 Convenienceconvenience fee onto a payment. This fee amount is managedvisible bywithin OPSCOM and notis added to the grand total before being sent to the payment provider.

    This
    • page
primarily related to Convenience fees, but may reference Transaction fees.

It is possible for a system mayto utilize both Convenience Fees (managed by OPSCOM) and Transaction Fees (managed by the payment provider), but recognizing their distinct origins and management is important.

Using this Feature

The Fees Page allows you to set up various convenience fees. 

You can only use both Convenience fees if you have Bambora/Worldline as your payment provider.

Fee Limitations:

Before configuring, understand these limitations:

  • Applied Once Per Order: Fees are applied once per fee type per order. This means if a fee is set for permits, only a single fee is applied to the order, regardless of whether it contains one permit or five permits.
  • Flat Rate Only: Fees are currently a flat rate. There is no percentage-based fee option at this time.
  • Grand Total Sent: Fees are not sent to the payment provider as a secondary item. Only the grand total (item price + convenience fee) is sent for processing.

Fee Examples and Setup:

1. Admin Collected Fee for Collecting Cash and Cheques (Deterrent Fee)

  • Scenario: The administrator wants to encourage online payments. A fee is set up as a deterrent when users pay with cash or cheque, covering the increased administrative burden.
  • Setup: The fee would apply to all item types but only to payment types of Cash and TransactionCheque.
    • fees

2. Admin Collected Fee for Permits

  • Scenario,,: Permits are sent to a third party for enforcement, and that third party charges $0.50 per permit they enforce. The client wishes to pass this cost onto the user.
  • Setup: The fee would apply to all payment types, but it is importantonly to knowPermits and Temp Permits. The setup would specify $0.50 as the difference.

    fee

    Howamount.

3. Admin Charges a Convenience Fee to getCover an OPSCOM Collected Transaction Fee

  • Scenario: There's an agreement with the payment provider that all permits will incur a $2.95 transaction fee paid to OPSCOM. The client still wants to receive the full $150 for a purchased permit, so they set up a convenience fee to cover this cost.
  • Setup: The convenience fee will be charged when selecting the specific payment type that incurs the $2.95 transaction fee. For example, the setup would apply to the relevant payment provider and define the convenience fee as $2.95.

4. Admin Includes the Transaction Fee in the Price of the Item (No Fee Setup in OPSCOM)

  • Scenario: An agreement exists where all permits incur a $2.95 transaction fee paid to OPSCOM. However, the client chooses to absorb this fee by increasing the item's price. If a permit costs $150, then $2.95 of that will be sent to OPSCOM, leaving the client with $147.05.
  • Setup: There is no specific setup for fees in this scenario within OPSCOM, as the fee is already embedded in the item's base price. If you want to inform users that a transaction fee is included in the final amount, you will need to update a relevant footer message (e.g., in email templates or on the user portal) stating this.

Best Practices & Considerations

  • Clarity for Users: Clearly communicate any convenience fees to your users before they complete a transaction. Transparency builds trust.
  • Strategic Application: Use convenience fees strategically. They can deter cash payments, offset third-party costs, or cover transaction fees, but ensure they align with your overall pricing strategy.
  • Flat Rate Limitation: Remember that fees are flat rate, not percentage-based. Plan your fee amounts accordingly.
  • Impact on Grand Total: Be aware that OPSCOM adds the convenience fee to the item's price to form the grand total before sending it to the payment provider.
  • External Transaction Fees: page:Distinguish between OPSCOM's convenience fees and any external transaction fees imposed by your payment gateway. Understand where each fee is applied and how it impacts your revenue.
  • Reporting: Consider how convenience fees will be reported and accounted for in your financial reconciliation processes.


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To access the Convenience Fees page in OPSCOM select System Configuration → Payments -> Fees.

Fees Page Explained:

3791d194-e0da-433d-bf84-b470d263c958.png

Fee Limitations:

  • Fees are applied once per fee type per order. This means if a fee is for permits, that if it is one permit or five permits, a single fee is applied to the order.
  • Fees are flat rate. There is no percentage based fee at this time.
  • Fees are not sent to the payment provider as a secondary item. Only the grand total is sent.

Fee Examples:

Admin collected fees:

In these scenarios, the admin charges a fee and keeps the full amount. The fee is to cover their own cost. OPSCOM does not collect on any of these fees as the client receives the full amount charged including the fee.

3997c6e4-a297-461f-924d-47808e25ab43.png

Admin collected fee for collecting cash and cheques:

The admin wants users to use online payment providers to collect payment. When a user pays for an item with cash or cheque, this puts an increased burden on the admin and this fee is set up as a deterrent. The setup would apply to all item types but only apply to payment types of cash. The following is how you would set this up:

1b90fe34-8404-4bb2-ab44-8b9c427b96e6.png

Admin collected fee for permits

In this scenario, we will assume that permits are sent to a thirdparty for enforcement, but the third party charges $0.50 per permit they have to enforce. The client wishes to pass this cost onto the user. The fee will apply to all payment types, but only on permits and temp permits. The setup will look as follows:

fa0387e9-9d0e-4a42-9806-ad1b02eeccd5.png

OPSCOM collected transaction fees

In these scenarios, there is a transaction fee that is set up on the payment provider that will deduct a specific amount from every transaction. At the time of this writing, it is a flat rate per account. Different fee rates based on different items (violations, permits, lockers, etc) will require different accounts to be used per item type.

Admin charges a convenience fee to cover the transaction fee

The agreement that all permits will incur a $2.95 transaction fee to be paid to OPSCOM is set up with the payment provider and the client. The client still wants to receive the full $150 for the permit that is purchased so they set up a convenience fee will be a charged when selecting this payment type.

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Setup as follows:

d0afabcb-2147-40b7-905d-175b85b48f91.png

Admin includes the transaction fee in the price of the item

The agreement that all permits will incur a $2.95 transaction fee to be paid to OPSCOM is set up with the payment provider and the client. The difference here is that the client will include the fee in the cost of the item. If a permit costs $150, then $2.95 of that will be sent to OPSCOM leaving the client with $147.05. There is no setup for fees in this scenario. If you want to inform the users that there is a transaction fee and that it is included, you will need to update a footer stating that the final amount includes the transaction fee.

f52068eb-5fe0-4935-8f66-a1f77d1d7464.png

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