Configure Payment Processing Fees and Disclosures by State

Configure payment processing fees and customer-facing payment disclosures globally or by state, giving insurers the flexibility to meet regulatory requirements and business needs.

Introduction

Carrier administrators use Settings > Payments > Payment Fees to configure payment processing fees for credit card, debit card, and Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, as well as the payment disclosures presented to policyholders. Define a global configuration that applies across all states, then create state-specific overrides where regulatory or business requirements differ. At the time of payment, the configuration for the policyholder's state is applied automatically. For an introduction to all Payments settings, see Payments Settings Overview.

How Payment Settings Work

The Payment Fees page has three sections. Each section controls a different part of the payment process.

The first two sections follow the scope you select. The third section is covered in Configure Saved Payment Method Authorization.

Payment settings apply based on scope, which can be either Global or State. The Global configuration serves as the default for all states. When you define a state-specific configuration, it overrides the Global configuration for that state only.

Each scope defines a fee formula for three payment methods: Credit Card, Debit Card, and ACH / Bank Transfer. The formula is an expression that is evaluated against the payment amount to produce the fee. For the full formula syntax, see Configure Payment Fee Formulas.

The Test amount field previews the calculated fee for each method without affecting any live setting. Enter an amount to see what each formula produces.

Before You Begin

Confirm the following before you start:

• Administrator access: Only users with administrator privileges can open this page. Other users see a blank page.
• Stripe Connect: Payment fee configuration is available only for organizations using Stripe Connect.
• Payment Processor integration: Install and configure the Payment Processor integration under Settings > Vendor Integrations. Until Stripe is your active payment provider, a banner reads These settings take effect when Stripe is your active payment provider. Your settings are saved but are not active.
• Business locations: To configure settings for a specific state, first add the state under Settings > System Wide > Business Locations. Only states configured there are available to select for state-specific payment settings.

Note: If a notice at the top of the page says that editing is locked, you can view the settings but you cannot change them.

Edit the Global Default

The Global default is the configuration applied in every state that has no exception of its own.

1. Go to Settings > Payments > Payment Fees to open the Global default scope, which is selected automatically.
2. In the Formula field for each payment method, enter the fee expression.
3. Complete the fields under Messaging that you want to set.
4. Select Save changes.

Add a State Exception

Add a state configuration when a state requires a different fee or different messaging than the Global default.

1. Go to Settings > Payments > Payment Fees.
2. Select Add state.
3. In the Add a state configuration dialog, select a state from the list of states that do not yet have their own configuration.
4. Select Customize state.
5. Edit the Formula fields and the Messaging fields for the state.
6. Select Save changes.

To switch between an existing state and the Global default, use the Scope dropdown. The Editing banner below the dropdown shows which scope you are editing.

Note: A state inherits nothing from the Global default unless you leave a field empty. Check each value you need on the state configuration.

Remove a State Override

Remove a state override to return that state to the Global default.

1. Select the state in the Scope dropdown.
2. Select Remove state override.
3. Confirm the prompt.

Preview a Fee With a Test Amount

Use a test amount to confirm a formula produces the fee you expect before you save.

1. Select the scope you want to check in the Scope dropdown.
2. Enter a payment amount in the Test amount field.
3. Confirm the calculated fee in the Test Fee column for each payment method.

Note: The test amount previews the calculation only. It does not change any saved setting or charge any payment.

Set Payment-Time Messaging

The Messaging section controls how fees and disclosures appear to policyholders at payment time.

1. Go to Settings > Payments > Payment Fees and scroll to Messaging.
2. Select a Preview style: Fee added or Inclusive price.
3. Enter an optional description for each payment method under Payment method descriptions.
4. Review or customize each box under Price disclosures.
5. Enter the text for the Authorization disclosure, using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) if needed.
6. Enter the text for the Surcharge disclosure, using HTML if needed.
7. Use the Live preview to confirm how the messaging renders, and then select Save changes.

Preview styles

Preview styles control how payment fees are displayed to policyholders. The fee amount remains the same regardless of the selected style. Only the presentation changes.

The following preview styles are available:

• Fee added: Shows the fee as a separate charge.
• Inclusive price: Shows each method's total with the fee included, which is the style New York requires.

The style names describe how the payment calculation is presented to policyholders. They do not correspond to specific states or jurisdictions. Select the style that best aligns with your organization's payment disclosure requirements.

Tip: Use Inclusive price as a state-specific override rather than your Global default, unless the carrier writes only in New York.

Note: The preview style affects only what the policyholder sees at payment time. It does not change deliverables such as receipts, invoices, or the pre-authorized payment schedule. To change how a fee appears on those documents, explore creating them as dynamic deliverables.

Payment method descriptions

A description is optional text of up to 500 characters for each payment method. It appears to customers on Secure Payment and the Policyholder portal. When the scope uses Inclusive price, descriptions are managed automatically and the fields are not editable.

Price disclosures

Each box under Price disclosures holds the message shown with a payment method's price in the selected style. Only the messages your formulas can show are listed, so the list changes when you edit a formula. A box shows a status tag that tells you where the text comes from.

Use the buttons next to a status tag to change a box:

• Customize: Starts a custom message from the current wording.
• Use Global default: Removes a state's own text so that it inherits the Global message.
• Turn off in a state: Shows no message for a no-fee method in that state. It is available only for no-fee messages in the Fee added style.

Write messages with these rules:

• Use only the placeholders {amount}, {fee}, {total}, and {percentage}.
• Include {fee} in a message for a payment method that has a fee.
• Use bold, <b>, as the only markup.
• Keep each message to 500 characters or fewer.

No messages show while no payment method has a fee.

Authorization and surcharge disclosures

The Authorization disclosure is always shown above the consent checkbox, and you can leave the field blank to show no message. The Surcharge disclosure is appended to the authorization disclosure only when the resulting fee is greater than $0. Both fields accept HTML.

Save or Discard Changes

1. Select Save changes to save your edits for the selected scope.
2. Select Discard unsaved changes to undo edits you have not saved.

BriteCore asks you to confirm before it discards edits, and when you switch scope with unsaved edits.

Reference

Use these tables to look up each field on the Payment Fees page.

Fee settings

Messaging settings

Fee formula safeguards

See Also

• Payments Settings Overview
• Configure Payment Fee Formulas
• Configure Saved Payment Method Authorization
• Stripe payment processing integration
• Set up business locations
• Settings overview