Getting paid by card costs more than the rate on the gateway's homepage. For a domestic payment, expect a percentage plus a fixed amount. For an international payment in another currency, the real total can be two or three times higher once the international surcharge and the currency conversion are added. The one layer you can avoid completely is a platform that takes a cut of each payment.
Layer one: the card processing fee
Card processing is the base cost, and every gateway has it. It is usually a percentage of the payment plus a small fixed amount.
Stripe's pricing page is shown by country. The version I loaded showed the UAE: 2.9% plus AED 1.00 per successful domestic card payment. The US and other pages show different numbers, so read the one for your country before you quote anyone.
PayPal's business fee page for the US lists 3.49% plus $0.49 for standard checkout, and 2.99% plus $0.49 when a client pays an invoice by card. Notice that the same provider charges different rates depending on how the client pays.
The fixed part matters more than it looks on small invoices. On a $40 payment, a $0.49 fee is more than 1% by itself. On $4,000 it is a rounding error.
This layer is the cost of accepting electronic money. In the EU, part of it is regulated: Regulation (EU) 2015/751 caps the interchange fee on consumer debit cards at 0.2% and on consumer credit cards at 0.3%. That cap is only one piece of what the gateway charges you, because the gateway adds its own margin on top.
Layer two: international cards and currency conversion
When a client pays from another country or in another currency, two extra charges often appear, and together they can exceed the base fee.
On the Stripe page above, an international card adds 1% to the base rate, and a payment that needs currency conversion adds another 1%. A domestic card at 2.9% becomes 4.9% when the card is foreign and the currency changes.
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Delivvo Team
Delivvo runs the client cycle for service businesses: inquiry, quote, contract, deposit and delivery. Payments go straight to your own account.
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PayPal is steeper. Its page lists an extra 1.50% international commercial transaction fee on top of the domestic rate, and a currency conversion spread of 3.00% for most transactions, rising to 4.00% in some cases such as paying in a currency other than the one listed.
A spread is different from a fee. It is a markup built into the exchange rate, so it never shows up as a line item. You only see it if you compare the rate you got with the mid-market rate you can find online.
Here is an example. A client pays a $3,000 invoice through PayPal from another country, and the money must be converted:
Base rate: 3.49% of $3,000 is $104.70, plus $0.49.
International fee: 1.50% of $3,000 is $45.
Conversion spread: 3.00% of roughly $2,850 is about $85.50.
That is about $236 in total, or close to 8% of the invoice. The same invoice paid in your own currency by a domestic card could cost you around 3.5%. Those are published rates at the time of writing, and your account may have different terms, so check your own statement.
Hand holding a credit card over a payment terminal at a counter
Layer three: payouts and transfers
Moving settled money to your bank can cost something, mostly when you want it fast. Stripe's page lists a 1.5% fee for instant payouts (with a minimum of AED 2.00 on the UAE page). Standard payouts are normally included.
Receiving money by bank transfer has its own costs. Wise's page on receiving money says account details are free in 22 currencies and that local payments in several currencies, including USD, GBP and EUR, are free. A Swift wire into a USD balance carries a fixed $6.11 fee per payment on that page. For conversion, Wise says its fee starts at 0.24% and varies by currency, and that it uses the mid-market rate with the fee shown separately.
That separation is the part worth copying in your own thinking. Ask every provider two questions: what is the fee, and what is the exchange rate compared with the mid-market rate? If a provider says "no fee" but gives a worse rate, the cost is in the rate.
Layer four: the platform cut
The platform cut is the only layer you can remove. Some invoicing and freelance platforms become the merchant of record. They collect the money from your client, hold it, and pay you after taking a percentage of every payment on top of the three layers above.
Imagine you invoice $8,000 a month and a platform takes another 3% as merchant of record. That is $240 a month, or $2,880 a year, for something your own gateway account could do without that fee. The fee buys convenience, and sometimes buys client discovery, which can be worth it. The question is whether you are paying for a service you use or for a habit.
Be careful with "free" tools. If a tool has no subscription but takes a share of each payment, it is not free. It is a percentage-of-revenue fee. Compare on your real monthly volume, not on the marketing page.
Letting clients pay in a currency you do not hold, without checking the conversion. If you can invoice in the currency your account holds, you skip the spread.
Paying for instant payouts when the cash is not urgent.
Using a platform that takes a share of each payment.
Absorbing the fee in silence, instead of building it into your prices.
On the last one, you do not have to add a surcharge. Rules on card surcharges differ by country and card scheme, so check before adding one. You can simply set your rates knowing that roughly 3% of each domestic card payment goes to processing.
How to lower the total
Start with the layer you control. Pick a tool where the client pays into your own gateway account. Then match invoice currency to settlement currency where you can. Use standard payouts. Finally, nudge clients with bank accounts toward bank transfer on large invoices, where a flat fee beats a percentage.
Our post on multi-currency invoicing explains when to bill in your client's currency and when to bill in yours.
How Delivvo keeps the fourth layer at zero
Delivvo is not a payment processor. It connects to the gateway account you already own, so the first three layers stay exactly what your gateway charges, and the fourth layer does not exist.
Here is what that looks like in use:
You connect your gateway in settings. Delivvo supports Tap, MyFatoorah, Moyasar, Telr, PayTabs, N-Genius, Stripe, PayPal and Checkout.com.
You send a quote. When the client accepts, the contract, the deposit invoice and the payment schedule are created for you.
The client pays on the invoice through your gateway. The money goes from the client to you.
Delivvo takes 0% and is never the merchant of record, so there is no second cut on top of the gateway fee.
For a large project you can split the price into up to 12 scheduled payments, so each payment carries a smaller fixed fee share and you are not waiting for one big transfer.
You pay a flat subscription instead: Free at $0 with no card, Solo at $12 a month, Pro at $29. Compare that with a percentage. At $8,000 a month, a 3% platform cut is $240. Pro is $29.
One more thing sets this apart from a payments-only tool. The same link that carries the quote also carries the contract and the invoice, and each document has a verification code. A client's finance team can check that the amount they are paying matches what was agreed, which cuts down on payment queries and the delays they cause.
Your gateway's fees do not go away, and Delivvo does not claim to lower them. What it removes is the extra layer. Read more on the no transaction fees page and the payments page.
FAQ
What is the average payment processing fee for a small business?
For domestic card payments, published rates cluster around 2.9% to 3.5% plus a fixed amount, such as Stripe's UAE page at 2.9% plus AED 1.00 and PayPal's US invoice card rate at 2.99% plus $0.49. Your rate depends on country, card type and your account terms.
Why are international payments more expensive?
Gateways add an international card surcharge and charge for currency conversion. On Stripe's UAE page those are 1% each. PayPal lists a 1.50% international fee and a 3.00% to 4.00% conversion spread. Together they can double the cost of a domestic payment.
What is a currency spread?
It is a markup inside the exchange rate. You do not see it as a fee. To find it, compare the rate you were given with the mid-market rate shown by a neutral source.
Can I avoid payment processing fees completely?
Not for card payments. Accepting a card always costs something. You can avoid the extra platform cut, avoid conversion by matching currencies, and use bank transfer on large invoices.
Delivvo runs the whole client cycle for service businesses, from the first inquiry to the quote, contract, deposit, invoice and delivery, so the only fee between you and your money is your own gateway's. Clients pay you directly through your own gateway, and Delivvo takes 0%. Start free
