Why is Penn State charging a fee for the use of my credit card?

Penn State made the decision to charge a 2.25% service fee to fairly distribute the costs of accepting online credit card payments to the users. The costs cover the operating costs associated with processing credit card payments including the technology structure. By charging this fee, these additional costs are being assessed to the users of this service, not to all Penn State students.  To avoid the fee, students and authorized payers can make payments by eCheck, check, or money order.