Small businesses pay roughly 2.4% to 3.5% of each card sale all in, and the gap between the cheapest and the dearest plan on the same $40,000 month is about $165 in person and $370 online. On card-present sales at a $75 ticket, flat-rate Square, Stripe and PayPal land between 2.41% and 2.82%. On online sales at a $200 ticket, flat-rate pricing costs 3.05% to 3.45% while an interchange-plus plan with a 0.5% markup comes out near 2.5%, if you assume 1.9% average interchange. The ranking depends on your average ticket and on whether customers pay in person or online, which is why a rate quoted as a percentage tells you less than the dollar total on your own volume.
Below are the published rates, then two worked months so you can see where each plan wins. Square's table we read directly from its pricing page. Stripe's online rate is its standard US card rate. PayPal, Helcim and Stripe's in-person rate come from provider pages as reported on several independent fee guides, because those pages block automated reads, so confirm them before you sign. Rates change and vary by account, so treat the tables as a way to rank options.
What does credit card processing cost per transaction?
Every card sale carries three layers. Interchange goes to the card issuing bank and is set by the card networks. Assessments go to Visa, Mastercard and the others. The processor adds its own markup. Flat-rate providers bundle all three into one percentage plus a fixed cents amount per sale. Interchange-plus providers show the pass-through cost and their markup separately. For debit cards from large banks, the Federal Reserve caps the interchange component under Regulation II, which is one reason debit is cheaper to accept than credit.
| Processor (checked 2026-11-15) | In person | Online or invoice | Keyed in | Monthly fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square (Free plan) | 2.6% + 15 cents | 3.3% + 30 cents | 3.5% + 15 cents | $0 |
| Square (Plus plan) | 2.5% + 15 cents | 2.9% + 30 cents | 3.5% + 15 cents | $49 per location |
| Stripe | 2.7% + 5 cents (reported) | 2.9% + 30 cents | varies | $0 |
| PayPal | 2.29% + 9 cents (reported) | 2.99% + 49 cents on payment links, 3.49% + 49 cents on Checkout (reported) | 3.49% + 9 cents (reported) | $0 |
| Helcim | interchange + 0.40% + 8 cents (reported) | interchange + 0.50% + 25 cents (reported) | not listed | $0 under $50,000 a month (reported) |
How much does card processing cost on a $40,000 month?
Two cases show why the ranking flips. Case one is a shop with a $75 average card-present ticket, 533 sales and $40,000 of volume. Case two is a services business billing $200 on average, 200 payments online. For the interchange-plus rows we assume average interchange of 1.9% on a mix of cards, which is an assumption, not a quote. Your card mix moves it.
| Case and plan | Monthly cost | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| In person, $75 ticket, Square Free | $1,119.95 | 2.80% |
| In person, Square Plus ($49 included) | $1,128.95 | 2.82% |
| In person, Stripe | $1,106.65 | 2.77% |
| In person, PayPal | $963.97 | 2.41% |
| In person, interchange-plus (Helcim style) | $962.64 | 2.41% |
| Online, $200 ticket, Square Free | $1,380.00 | 3.45% |
| Online, Square Plus ($49 included) | $1,269.00 | 3.17% |
| Online, Stripe | $1,220.00 | 3.05% |
| Online, PayPal payment link | $1,294.00 | 3.23% |
| Online, interchange-plus (Helcim style) | $1,010.00 | 2.53% |
Two things stand out. Square's Plus plan does not pay for itself at $40,000 in person, because the 0.1 point saving is $40 against a $49 fee, while online it saves $111 and does. And the interchange-plus plan saves $210 to $370 a month online, because the fixed 30 cents and the flat 2.9% overcharge on the cheaper cards.
Is flat-rate or interchange-plus pricing cheaper?
Interchange-plus is cheaper once volume passes a few thousand dollars a month and your cards are mostly standard consumer credit and debit. Flat rate wins when volume is tiny, when you want one predictable percentage, or when most sales are premium rewards cards, where interchange runs above 2.5% and the bundled rate can undercut a markup. Run your last three statements through both models before switching. The effective rate on a statement, total fees divided by total volume, is the only number that compares like with like.
What are the fees outside the rate?
The rate is rarely the whole bill. Four items change the total more than a 0.1 point difference in markup:
- Chargeback fees. A dispute usually costs a flat fee on top of the lost sale, and the work of answering it falls on your team. We priced that in chargeback management services and representment cost.
- Keyed-in and card-not-present surcharges. Typing a card number costs 0.2 to 0.9 points more than a swipe on the plans above.
- Monthly and hardware fees. A $49 plan or a leased terminal is a fixed drag that matters most at low volume.
- Payout timing. Next-day or instant payout often carries a separate 1% to 1.5% fee.
Which payment method should you push customers toward?
On any invoice above a few hundred dollars, a bank transfer beats every row in the first table. The same $2,500 invoice that costs $72 to $88 by card costs $10 to $17.50 by ACH, as shown in our comparison of PayPal, Stripe, Square and QuickBooks invoice fees. If you originate the bank file yourself, ACH origination fees by bank shows what that costs. Collecting the payment is only half of it. Someone has to match each deposit to an invoice, and the accounts receivable process is where that matching and the chasing of late payers is laid out.
How do you choose a processor in four steps?
- Pull three months of sales and split them by in person, online and keyed in. Note the average ticket for each.
- Price each split on the flat-rate tables above, then ask one interchange-plus provider for a written quote on the same volume.
- Add the fixed items: monthly fee, terminal lease, payout fee, chargeback fee.
- Compare total dollars per month, not percentages, and re-check every six months, because rates and volume both move. If you are opening a new storefront, you can find a domain for the new storefront while you shop for a processor.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average credit card processing fee for a small business?
Most small businesses pay between 2.4% and 3.5% of each sale in total fees. In person sales with a flat-rate provider land near 2.4% to 2.8%, online sales near 3.0% to 3.5%. Interchange-plus plans can bring online sales to roughly 2.5% on standard cards. Your effective rate is total fees divided by total card volume.
Who has the lowest credit card processing fees?
Interchange-plus providers such as Helcim usually have the lowest cost at volumes above a few thousand dollars a month, since you pay interchange plus a small markup. For low volume or simple needs, flat-rate providers are close, and PayPal's reported in-person rate was the lowest flat rate in our month at 2.41%.
Why are online card fees higher than in-person fees?
Card-not-present sales carry more fraud and dispute risk, so networks set higher interchange and processors add a larger fixed fee per sale. The difference on the plans above is 0.3 to 0.7 percentage points plus 15 to 25 cents more per transaction.
Can you avoid credit card processing fees?
You cannot remove them, but you can reduce them. Steer large invoices to ACH, move high-volume accounts to interchange-plus pricing, avoid keying cards by hand, and answer disputes fast so you do not pay repeat chargeback fees.
The cost of taking a card is a line you can model, and the model takes an hour: one month of statements, five providers, total dollars.