Processing Fee

A processing fee is what a payment processor charges to accept a card payment. It is usually a percentage of the amount plus a small fixed fee. The processor deducts it before the money reaches your balance.

How it's structured

Stripe's standard US rate for online cards is 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge, with no monthly or setup fee. The percentage grows with the payment. The fixed part is the same on every charge.

On a $100.00 payment at 2.9% + $0.30, the fee is $3.20. You keep $96.80.

What can raise the rate

Some payments cost more than the standard rate:

• International cards often add 1.5%.
• Currency conversion adds about 1%.
• Manually entered cards add a small percentage because keyed entry is riskier.

Much of the fee passes through the interchange fee that card networks and issuers set.

Why it matters for SaaS

The fixed $0.30 takes a large share of small charges, so low-priced subscriptions lose more margin to fees. Stripe records the fee on each balance transaction. Subtract fees across all payments and you get your net volume. ChargeBell can show the net amount after fees on each payment alert, so the number in Slack matches what reached your balance.