ForUS small businesses, from solo owners to 500 people, that send invoicesUSCanada (short section)
When to stop taking cards, by invoice size and provider.
Every way of getting paid comes with an agreement. What those agreements let a provider do with your money is in The Small Print.
| Way to get paid | Typical price shape | Speed | Can the payer reverse it? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card, including Apple Pay and Google Pay | % + fixed fee | Payout in about 1–2 business days | Yes: disputes and chargebacks (the bank takes the money back while it decides) | Counter sales, online checkout, new customers |
What this means for a $5,000 invoice Card at Stripe list prices: $145.30 fee (2.9% + 30¢), $147.49 all-in if nothing goes wrong. If the client disputes it: a $15 dispute fee plus $15 to contest it (refunded if you win), and the $5,000 can be held while the bank decides. That is $138.11 more than the bank-transfer example. | ||||
| Bank transfer (ACH, the US network that moves money between bank accounts) | %, often capped, or a flat fee | Same day to a few business days | Yes, for debits the account holder didn't authorize; payments can also fail for lack of funds | Invoices, retainers, recurring bills |
What this means for a $5,000 invoice Bank transfer (Stripe ACH): $5.00 fee (0.8%, capped at $5), $9.38 all-in if nothing goes wrong. If it fails once and is paid again: $22.77 (two $5 fees, the $4 failed-payment fee, 8 days of waiting). If the client disputes it: a $15 dispute fee, and ACH disputes are final. | ||||
| Real-time bank payment (RTP, run by The Clearing House, and FedNow, run by the Federal Reserve) | Flat fee per payment | Seconds, any time | No: payments are final | Large payments that must arrive now |
What this means for a $5,000 invoice Not stated. The post's worked $5,000 example covers bank transfer (Stripe ACH) and card (Stripe) only, so no $5,000 figure is shown for this rail. | ||||
| Wallet checkout (PayPal, Venmo) | % + fixed, above card rates | Instant to the wallet balance | Yes, through the wallet's buyer protection | Checkout where buyers trust the wallet brand |
What this means for a $5,000 invoice Not stated. The post's worked $5,000 example covers bank transfer (Stripe ACH) and card (Stripe) only, so no $5,000 figure is shown for this rail. | ||||
Fee on one US payment, US$ or % of the invoice, log scales · list prices read 23 Oct 2026
Figure 1. Fee on one payment. Card: Stripe 2.9% + 30¢. Wallet: PayPal Checkout 3.49% + 49¢. ACH: Stripe 0.8% capped at $5. Flat ACH: BILL $0.59 (BILL plans from $49 per user a month). If you send the invoice through Stripe Invoicing, add 0.4% of the invoice to the Stripe lines; Stripe shows no cap on it. Sources: Stripe, PayPal and BILL pricing pages, read 23 Oct 2026. Chart: ForeGaze.
Each is dated and sourced. The card settlement is still pending, so treat it as news, not a rule.
From 22 Jun 2026, even small senders
By 9:00 a.m. on settlement day (from 18 Sep 2026; Nacha rule, our summary)
Preliminary approval 9 Jun 2026
Nacha pages are primary; the settlement is from trade press. Read 25 Oct 2026.
A cap is the most you pay on one payment; a minimum is the least. Both apply to the whole fee, as each provider states them.
Fee on one $5,000 US ACH payment, US$ · before plan and software fees · list prices read 23 Oct 2026
Sources: the providers' US pricing pages, listed under Sources. Authorize.Net (0.75%, $37.50 here, plus $25 a month) and Increase same-day ($2) are in Table 1. Chart: ForeGaze.
Breakeven (the invoice size where two fees are equal): Stripe's ACH is cheaper than its 2.9% + 30¢ card at every size. Square's ACH on invoices (1%, $1 minimum) beats Square's own invoice card rate from $21.21 on Square Free (3.3% + 30¢) and $24.14 on Square Plus (2.9% + 30¢). Its $10 cap is the invoice price; ACH through Square’s API is capped at $5 on every plan. QuickBooks' ACH (1%, $1 minimum) beats its 2.99% invoiced card rate from $33.44. Above $73.75, Stripe's ACH costs more than BILL's flat 59¢, before BILL's plan fee.
Apple Pay and Google Pay are paid with a card stored on the phone, and providers that list them price them like cards. On PayPal invoices, a card, Apple Pay or another phone wallet costs 2.99% + 49¢. Braintree's 2.89% + 29¢ covers cards and phone wallets.
PayPal and Venmo checkout are different. The buyer pays from a PayPal or Venmo account, and the seller pays 3.49% + 49¢. When the buyer chooses Pay Later, the seller pays 4.99% + 49¢.
Both prices buy PayPal's buyer and seller protection. Whether the wallet brings you extra sales is worth testing on your own checkout.
Seller's fee on one $50 US order, US$ · PayPal list prices, last updated 1 Oct 2026, read 23 Oct 2026
Source: PayPal merchant fees (US), read 23 Oct 2026. Chart: ForeGaze.
The Federal Reserve charges banks $0.045 per FedNow payment sent in 2026. A volume discount cancels that fee for each bank's first 2,500 payments a month this year.
That waiver is for 2026 only. For 2027 the Fed moves to a discount program of statement credits to banks, with no per-payment price published (FedNow 2027 program). FedNow’s per-payment limit rose from $1M to $10M on 12 Nov 2025 (Federal Reserve Financial Services).
What a business pays is up to its bank or provider. The one business price we found is from Increase, a bank platform for software developers. It charges $2.50 to send an RTP or FedNow payment and $15 to send a wire, plus a monthly fee set by quote. It publishes no price for receiving one.
The payer pushes a real-time payment, so it suits large one-off payments a customer chooses to send, not checkout. Ask your bank what it charges to receive one before you offer it.
Sources: FedNow 2026 fee schedule; Increase fees; Payments Dive. Read 23 Oct 2026.
An instant payout moves money you have already earned into your bank in minutes instead of days. A standard payout is free at all six.
Instant payout fee a year on $10,000 a month, one transfer a month, US$ · US list prices read 23 Oct 2026
Sources: BILL, Zoho Payments, Stripe, PayPal, QuickBooks and Square pricing pages, listed under Sources. Standard payouts are free at each. If a payment is disputed later, the processor can take an instant payout back (what the agreements say, in The Small Print). Chart: ForeGaze.
Add what disputes and failed payments cost on average, and what waiting for the money costs you.
Expected cost of one payment, US$ · your inputs · list prices read 23 Oct 2026
Sources: Stripe, PayPal and Increase pricing pages, read 23 Oct 2026. Calculation: ForeGaze. Change the numbers to match your business.
One $5,000 payment, US$ · Stripe list prices read 23 and 25 Oct 2026 · waiting time at 8% a year (ForeGaze assumption)
| What it costs | Bank transfer (Stripe ACH) | Card (Stripe) |
|---|---|---|
| Fee to receive | $5.00 (0.8%, capped at $5) | $145.30 (2.9% + 30¢) |
| Cost of waiting for the money | $4.38 (about 4 days) | $2.19 (about 2 days) |
| Total when it goes right | $9.38 | $147.49 |
| If the payment fails | $4 failed-payment fee, and the client must pay again. If it fails once and is paid again (two $5 fees, the $4 fee, 8 days of waiting), the total is $22.77. | Stripe prices cards per successful transaction. |
| If the client disputes it | $15 dispute fee; ACH disputes are final. | $15 dispute fee, plus $15 to contest it (refunded if you win). The $5,000 can be held while the bank decides. |
Shaded: the card fee, $145.30 of the $147.49 card total on a $5,000 invoice.
The gap is $138.11. Even a bank payment that fails once and is paid again ($22.77) costs far less than the card fee alone ($145.30). The risk of a bank payment is mostly time and a reversal window, not the fee. The fine print on both is in The Small Print, hidden costs.
Why the numbers differ from the calculator above: this example shows $147.49 for card and $9.38 for bank transfer. The calculator shows $147.57 and $9.42 for the same $5,000, because it also adds an average dispute cost for cards (0.5% of payments disputed at $15) and an average failure cost for bank transfers (1% at $4). List prices read 23 and 25 Oct 2026.
Sources: Stripe pricing (card, ACH, disputes), read 25 Oct 2026; Stripe local payment methods pricing (failed ACH $4; ACH dispute), read 23 Oct 2026. Calculation: ForeGaze. Your own inputs are in the calculator above.
| Provider | Failed or returned bank payment | Card dispute or chargeback |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | $4 per failed ACH payment (page read 23 Oct 2026) | $15 per dispute, plus $15 to contest it (refunded if you win) |
| GoCardless | $5 failure fee, on every plan | Bank debit only. $5 per chargeback, only above 15 a month. |
| Increase | $5 per ACH return; $15 if unauthorized; $25 for a late return request | – |
| PayPal | – | $15 dispute (high-volume sellers $30); $20 chargeback. Schedule updated 1 Oct 2026. |
| Square | – | No dispute management fee. The processing fees on a payment you lose are not refunded. |
Fees a year, US$ · Stripe and PayPal US list prices read 23 Oct 2026 · your inputs
The wallet slider stops at what card leaves, because card and wallet together cannot pass 100%. Paid by bank today: (what is left after card and wallet).
Each cell is the fee on one payment.
Fee on one US payment, US$ · list prices read 23 Oct 2026
BILL also charges a plan fee from $49 per user a month, and Increase a platform fee by quote; they aren't in the cells. Square ACH: 1% with a $1 minimum (Square Free). Real-time: Increase's price to send, as a stand-in. Adyen (40¢) and Increase next-day (50¢) cost less than BILL but are not in the map; see Table 1. Sources: listed under Sources. Calculation: ForeGaze.
A cheaper rail can still be reversed, held or clawed back. Each card links to the clause-by-clause reading in The Small Print.
Disputed for months
Cheaper, not untouchable
Fast isn't final
Held up to 180 days (PayPal terms read in 2026; vendor claim)
Final once sent
Reversal windows are general network rules (Nacha, which runs the ACH rules), summarized, not quoted; your provider's agreement and your bank decide. Agreement details from The Small Print, read 22–23 Oct 2026.
Default Bank transfer for deposits and big jobs; card for small ones.
Watch: a large first card payment can trigger a hold (holds in The Small Print).
In numbers (example $5,000 job): bank $5.00 against card $145.30 at Stripe list prices, plus about $2.19 more in waiting for the bank.
Default Bank autopay for retainers; card as the fallback.
Watch: law firms must follow state bar rules on card fees and chargebacks that touch client trust accounts.
In numbers (example $5,000 invoice): bank $5.00 against card $145.30, so the cap matters more than the rate. Disputes and returns: The Small Print.
Default Card at the counter; bank transfer for catering and large orders.
Watch: equipment leases and exit fees (by type of business in The Small Print).
In numbers (example $25 ticket): in-person card costs $0.80 at Square Free (2.6% + 15¢) or $0.73 at Stripe Terminal (2.7% + 5¢), about 3.2% of the sale. A bank payment is not practical at a counter.
Default Card and wallets at checkout; pay by bank for large orders.
Watch: reserves and payout holds after a sales spike.
Default Card on file, with bank autopay offered.
Watch: chargeback limits; processors act before the card networks do (the catches in The Small Print).
In numbers (example $30 a month): card on file $1.17, Stripe bank debit $0.24. Counting only the $4 failure fee, bank debit stays cheaper unless more than 23% of payments fail.
Default Card at the visit; payment plans by bank debit.
Watch: keep health details out of payment notes and invoices.
Default Monthly giving by bank debit; one-off gifts by card or wallet.
Watch: platform fees and donor “tips”.
Default Bank transfer; real-time payment for urgent large ones.
Watch: confirm new bank details by phone; fake “changed account” emails are common.
Example sizes are for illustration, not measured averages; Stripe and Square list prices, read 23 and 25 Oct 2026. The terms that hit each kind of business hardest are in The Small Print, by type of business.
Many US firms also sell to Canada. Two rails matter there: Interac debit at the counter, and pre-authorized debit (PAD), Canada's bank-debit system.
Sources: Moneris, Stripe Canada, GoCardless Canada and Rotessa pricing pages, read 23 Oct 2026; Square Canada and Helcim Canada as read 21 Oct 2026. Not rechecked on 25 Oct: the Canadian rules and prices here were not part of the 25 Oct accuracy check.
Question. What do the ways of getting paid other than a card cost a small business, and at what invoice size does each make sense?
Data. Official pricing pages of 60 payment companies, read on 21 Oct 2026 and recorded in ForeGaze's rate verification (279 records, 71 pages). Every US rate used in the tables and charts was rechecked on the provider's own page on 23 Oct 2026 (see Sources). The failure, dispute and counter-sale figures added in v0.0.8 were read on 25 Oct 2026. FedNow's fee comes from the Federal Reserve's 2026 fee schedule; the RTP limit from Payments Dive (Dec 2024).
Breakevens are solved exactly: the invoice size where two fees are equal. All figures in the text are re-run in the build script.
Not included. Plan, platform and invoicing software fees except where named, failed-payment and return fees except where named, and verification fees. The cost of slower settlement is only in the true-cost calculator. Instant payout minimums: BILL $1, Stripe and PayPal 50¢; Square needs $25 left after fees.
Limits. Only one business-facing real-time price was found, and it is a sending price. Speed and reversal rules are summarized, not quoted from network rules. List prices only; negotiated pricing can be lower. Sources, unread pages and terms are listed below.
Where a rule above comes from a provider's terms, The Small Print quotes and rates it.
We make the hidden visible, the complex simple and the unheard heard.
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Spotted an error, or represent a company named here? Write to hello@foregaze.ai . We fix errors, date each change and publish company responses.
We're not lawyers, accountants or financial advisers. This covers published prices and terms as read on the dates shown under Sources.
Read on the dates shown under Sources. Prices and terms change and vary by plan, region and contract, and custom-priced accounts can differ. Check the provider's own page before you sign or switch.
Complaints and forum reports are what businesses say, unverified unless marked. Nothing here says a company broke the law.
Written by ForeGaze Research. Claude (made by Anthropic) helped with drafting, layout and website design. Every number is checked against the sources listed and manually checked. ForeGaze is responsible for the content.
Company and product names are trademarks of their owners. Short quotes are used for commentary.
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Bring one monthly processing statement and check your fees line by line with the free Fee Health Check. Then compare them with the bank-transfer prices above.
Run the free Fee Health CheckPrices change; check the provider's own page before you switch. Provider names are trademarks of their owners. See Disclaimers above.