02 / PUBLIC EVIDENCE LEDGER
Every price has a scope and source.
Public-source excerpts are not independently negotiated rates. Review the current company pages yourself and document dates whenever terms change.
Stripe
2.9% + $0.30Stripe Payments — standard online card acceptance
US standard domestic card rate per successful online transaction. International cards, currency conversion, disputes and other products can add costs.
Additional charges and open questions
Stripe separately publishes +1.5% for international cards, +1% when currency conversion is needed, and +0.5% manually entered cards. These additions are NOT included in the basic benchmark.
Ask the provider: Which card mix, international share, FX, disputes and volume discounts apply to this merchant?
Square
3.3% + $0.30Square Free — online payments (not Payments API)
Square Free plan online payment rate. Paid plans and Payments API have different published prices; this is not an in-person rate.
Additional charges and open questions
Square shows online rates of 3.3% + 30¢, 2.9% + 30¢ and 2.9% + 30¢ by plan; Payments API is displayed separately at 2.9% + 30¢. Software, terminals and other plan costs are not included.
Ask the provider: Are we using the Free web checkout, API, invoices or a paid plan? What subscription and hardware charges apply?
PayPal
2.89% + $0.29PayPal Expanded Checkout — credit/debit cards
Standard domestic card rate for PayPal Expanded Checkout. PayPal wallet and PayPal Checkout card rates differ. Additional optional services may cost more.
Additional charges and open questions
PayPal Checkout card payments are published at 2.99% + $0.49; PayPal wallet/Venmo at 3.49% + $0.49; Expanded Checkout optional Chargeback Protection adds 0.40% per transaction.
Ask the provider: Which checkout product and payment method will merchants actually use? Which fraud add-ons and dispute fees apply?
Braintree
2.89% + $0.29PayPal Braintree — standard cards and third-party wallets
Standard US Braintree rate for card and third-party digital wallet transactions, subject to merchant approval. Extra fees can apply.
Additional charges and open questions
Published extra 1% for non-USD presentation, 1% for cards issued outside the US and $15 chargeback fee. This is not an all-in cross-border estimate.
Ask the provider: Does our merchant qualify for the standard rate or custom quote, and which chargeback/cross-border fees apply?
Airwallex
2.80% + $0.30Airwallex Payments — domestic card acceptance
Airwallex US published card-acceptance product rate. Availability and eligibility depend on legal entity and product enrollment.
Additional charges and open questions
Airwallex separately lists international card processing at 4.30% + $0.30 and local methods at $0.30 plus method fee. Excluded from this domestic-card baseline.
Ask the provider: Is US acquiring available for our legal entity and card/product mix? What is the actual FX and settlement arrangement?
Adyen
Fixed processing fee + method costsAdyen acquiring — card payment methods
Adyen publishes method-level pricing and interchange-based examples, but these cannot be directly normalized to the five flat-rate examples without actual interchange and scheme/card mix.
Additional charges and open questions
The published fee schedule includes a fixed processing component and method-specific variable charges; full merchant economics depend on each transaction and country.
Ask the provider: Provide a card-mix-based interchange/scheme breakdown and the processing fee schedule for our entity.
Checkout.com
Custom quote requiredCheckout.com enterprise payment processing
Checkout.com describes flat-rate and interchange++ pricing, but does not publish one universal numeric processing rate.
Additional charges and open questions
Review any negotiated minimums, payment method fees, risk costs, reserves, acquiring regions and FX before comparison.
Ask the provider: Request merchant-specific fees for the same geography, risk band, method and settlement currency.
Clover
Plan & seller dependentClover POS payments, software and hardware bundle
Clover publishes offers by business type, plan and sales channel. The all-in monthly equipment/software and processing price is not universally comparable.
Additional charges and open questions
Terms and cancellation/termination policies vary by whether a merchant buys directly or through a reseller. Hardware subscription commitments can matter.
Ask the provider: Request separate processing rates, device cost, software subscription, minimum term and buyout price.
The five flat-rate entries are narrow US-online-card fee examples. Other entries are included because omitting custom pricing would falsely imply that those providers are worse or unavailable. Last reviewed November 6, 2026.
