Credit card processing fees, explained line by line

The short answer

Most of what you pay on each card sale comes from two parts. There’s the fee that goes to the bank that issued your customer’s card, called interchange. Then there’s the fee your provider adds on top. Some providers roll both into one flat rate. Others show them separately.

The only number that tells you what you really pay is your effective rate: total fees divided by total card sales. If you paid $640 in fees on $20,000 of card sales, your effective rate is 3.2%.

Below is every fee you’re likely to see on a US statement, with real examples from providers’ own pricing pages.

The fees on a US merchant statement

1. Interchange

Visa says it uses interchange “as transfer fees between acquiring banks and issuing banks,” and that “Merchants do not pay interchange reimbursement fees” directly. Instead, it says, merchants “negotiate and pay a ‘merchant discount’ to their financial institution” that “is typically calculated as a percentage per transaction” (Visa). In plain words: interchange is built into what your provider charges you, whether you can see it or not.

Interchange is not one number. For debit cards, there is a federal limit. The Federal Reserve’s rule caps debit interchange for large banks at “$0.21 plus 0.05 percent multiplied by the value of the transaction,” plus a 1¢ fraud-prevention adjustment if the bank is eligible. Banks with under $10 billion in assets are exempt (Federal Reserve).

The Fed’s own 2024 data shows how much that matters. Debit payments covered by the cap averaged 23¢ in interchange, or 0.47% of the sale. Debit from exempt, smaller banks averaged 51¢, or 1.21%. The Fed describes these as fees “received by a debit card issuer” (Federal Reserve), meaning the bank that issued the card, not your provider. That’s why a flat rate has to be set high enough to cover the expensive cards too.

2. The provider’s markup

This is what your provider keeps. On interchange-plus pricing, you can see it as a separate number:

• Helcim publishes a markup of 0.40% + 8¢ per in-person sale, and 0.50% + 25¢ for keyed and online sales, for businesses processing up to $50,000 a month. The markup drops with volume, down to 0.15% + 6¢ in person at $1 million to $5 million.
• Stax publishes “0% markup on interchange.” Instead, it charges 8¢ per in-person sale and 15¢ per keyed or online sale, plus a monthly subscription.

Those are markups only. Your total is interchange plus that markup. Helcim says that “for most merchants,” its total in-person effective rate is “near or below 2%” (Helcim’s claim, not ours). Stax doesn’t publish a total.

3. Credit card processing rates: the flat rate

A flat rate rolls interchange and markup into one number. It’s simpler to predict, and you pay the same whatever card your customer uses. Published in-person rates:

• PayPal POS: 2.29% + 9¢
• Clover: 2.3% + 10¢ on its Growth plans, 2.6% + 10¢ on its cheapest retail bundle
• SpotOn: 2.45% + 15¢ on POS Essentials (Amex is 3.19% + 15¢)
• Toast: 2.49% with traditional pricing, or 3.09% on its pay-as-you-go Starter Kit. Toast doesn’t state a per-sale fixed fee.
• Square: 2.6% + 15¢ on Square Free, 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus, 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium
• Shopify (Basic plan): 2.6% + 10¢
• Lightspeed: 2.6% + 10¢
• Chase: 2.6% + 10¢
• Stripe: 2.7% + 5¢
• Heartland: starting at 2.6% + 10¢. Heartland says to “pick the rate plans,” so the plan you’re offered may differ.

Watch the fixed fee. On a $10 sale, Square Free’s 15¢ is 1.5% of the sale on its own.

Clover also notes, “Prices shown are only available on Clover.com.” Clover is sold through banks and resellers too, and their prices can differ.

4. Online and keyed-in premiums

Payments where the card isn’t in front of you cost more. Online rates:

• Stripe: 2.9% + 30¢
• Shopify (Basic): 2.9% + 30¢
• Chase: 2.9% + 25¢
• PayPal standard card payments: 2.99% + 49¢
• Square: 3.3% + 30¢ on Free, 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium

Keyed-in rates, for when you type the card number in:

• Square: 3.5% + 15¢ on every plan, also for saved cards on file
• Clover, Shopify and Chase: 3.5% + 10¢
• SpotOn: 3.45% + 15¢
• PayPal POS: 3.49% + 9¢
• Stripe: adds 0.5% for manually entered cards, which makes 3.4% + 30¢

Chase’s own pages disagree on its keyed-in rate. Its payments overview says 3.5% + 15¢, while its merchant fees page and FAQ say 3.5% + 10¢.

5. Monthly and plan fees

These are charged whether you sell or not. Examples from published pricing:

• Square Plus is $49 a month and Premium is $149, charged per location.
• Shopify Basic is $39 a month billed monthly, or $29 billed yearly. POS Pro for retail stores is another $89 a month per location, billed yearly.
• Lightspeed Retail Basic is $89 a month billed yearly, or $109 billed monthly.
• Toast’s restaurant Point of Sale plan starts at $69 a month. SpotOn’s POS Essentials is $55 per station per month.
• Stax’s subscription is $99 a month for up to $150,000 a year in processing, then $139, then $199 and up.
• Heartland’s POS starts at $89 a month. Chase says “monthly fees may apply to certain products and pricing plans,” without amounts.
• Square Free, Stripe, Helcim and the PayPal POS app list no monthly fee to take payments.

A low rate with a high monthly fee can cost more than a higher rate with none, especially in a slow month.

6. Hardware

Card readers and terminals are usually a separate, one-time cost. Published US prices:

• PayPal Card Reader: $29 for the first one, $79 for each one after that
• Square Reader: $59. Square Terminal: $299.
• Stripe Reader M2: $59. Stripe Reader S700: $299.
• Helcim Card Reader: $199. Helcim Smart Terminal: $349.
• Clover Go: $199. Clover Station Duo: $1,899.

Some providers trade hardware cost for a higher rate or a long term. Toast’s pay-as-you-go Starter Kit has no upfront hardware cost but charges 3.09% on every sale. Clover offers hardware on 36-month subscriptions, and Clover says if you don’t buy or return the equipment at the end, “your subscription term will be extended at the same monthly charge.”

7. Chargeback and dispute fees

A chargeback is when a customer disputes a payment with their bank. Providers charge you to handle it:

• Helcim: $15, but only if you lose. $0 if it’s resolved in your favor.
• Lightspeed: $15.
• Stripe: $15 per dispute, plus another $15 if you respond to it manually. You get the second fee back only if you win.
• PayPal: $20 per chargeback, and a separate $15 standard dispute fee ($30 for high-volume disputes).
• Square says “There are no fees for dispute management services for chargebacks.” But it also says the processing fees for the payment “aren’t refunded back to you.”

8. Faster payout fees

Getting your money sooner usually costs extra:

• Square instant transfers: 1.95% per transfer. Standard next-business-day transfers are free.
• Stripe Instant Payouts: 1.5%, with a 50¢ minimum.
• PayPal instant transfers: 1.5%, with a 50¢ minimum.
• Clover Rapid Deposit: 1.75%.

On $2,000 a day of sales, Square’s 1.95% is $39 a day. If you use instant payouts every day, this line can be bigger than your monthly plan fee.

9. International cards and other add-ons

Stripe adds 1.5% for international cards and 1% if currency conversion is needed. Shopify adds 1% for online international cards.

Shopify also charges a third-party transaction fee if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. That’s on top of what the other provider charges you.

10. PCI fees

PCI fees relate to the card industry’s data security standard, PCI DSS, which “provides a baseline of technical and operational requirements designed to protect payment account data” (PCI Security Standards Council).

Helcim lists its PCI fee for the annual compliance self assessment as $0. Stax’s pricing page doesn’t list chargeback, PCI or statement fees. Most providers we compare don’t publish a PCI fee amount at all. If your statement shows one, ask what it’s for and whether you can avoid it.

What it adds up to: one example month

Say you take $10,000 in card payments in person, across 400 sales. At published rates, the fees would be (our estimate, before keyed-in sales, chargebacks, payouts and hardware):

Provider	How it’s priced	Card fees	Monthly fees	Total
PayPal POS	2.29% + 9¢	$265	$0	$265
Stripe	2.7% + 5¢	$290	$0	$290
Chase	2.6% + 10¢	$300	not published	$300 + any monthly fees
Square Free	2.6% + 15¢	$320	$0	$320
Shopify Basic	2.6% + 10¢	$300	$39	$339
Helcim	interchange + 0.40% + 8¢	interchange + $72	$0	depends on interchange
Stax	interchange + 8¢	interchange + $32	$99	depends on interchange

Shopify’s $39 is the Basic plan billed monthly. For Helcim, $72 is only the markup. For Stax, $32 is only the per-sale fee, and $99 is its subscription for up to $150,000 a year. We can’t add interchange without knowing your card mix, which is why interchange-plus totals have to come from your own statement or a written quote.

Keep reading

• The fee calculator: turn your statement into one number.
• Compare payment processors: every provider’s rates side by side.
• POS systems compared: if you need software, not just card payments.
• Fee calculators for Square and Stripe.
• Full fee breakdowns for Square, Stripe, Helcim and Stax.