Card fees come straight out of your margin.
Every card payment and payment app takes a percentage plus a fixed cent amount, so the headline rate is never what you actually pay. Enter an amount to see your effective rate, what each processor leaves you, and what the difference adds up to over a year.
Multiply the sale by the percentage rate, then add the fixed per-transaction amount. A $100 sale at 2.9% + $0.30 costs $3.20, leaving you $96.80. To find your effective rate across a month, divide total fees by total card sales and multiply by 100 — that single number is the only fair way to compare processors, because a low percentage with a high fixed fee is expensive on small tickets.
For a small business taking card payments online, an effective rate between 2.5% and 3.5% is typical. Below 2.5% is good. If yours is above 3.5%, the mix is usually the cause — lots of small transactions where the fixed 30c dominates, or a high share of international or premium-rewards cards.
Direct bank rails are free: Zelle and ACH in the US, PayID and bank transfer in Australia. Among the card and app options, on standard US published rates, Venmo goods & services is lowest at 1.9% + $0.10, then Cash App for Business at 2.6% + $0.15, then Stripe/Square at 2.9% + $0.30, with PayPal highest at 3.49% + $0.49. Rates vary by country, plan and negotiated volume — Australian domestic card rates differ from the US figures above, so check your processor's current pricing page before comparing.
By offering a fee-free payment option on their invoices. When a client can pay by bank transfer, Zelle (US) or PayID (Australia), there's no processing fee for either side. InvoiceSonic shows all your payment methods on every invoice so clients can pick the free one.
Yes — processing fees are deducted from the payment, so you receive the amount minus the fee. That's why the fees add up fast on higher invoice volumes.
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