4 AskBiz guides on payment processing, covering Cross-Border Sales, Weekly Payments, Payment Operations and related operating decisions for SME founders.
A UK business sells a £100 product to an EU customer via PayPal. PayPal shows: 3.4% fee = £3.40. But also charges: £0.20 per transaction, 2% currency conversion. True cost: £3.40 + £0.20 + £2 = £5.60 (5.6% of sale). On £100K annual EU sales, that's £5,600 in hidden PayPal fees. Post-Brexit, this is unavoidable, but you can optimize.
7 min readBase rates all similar: Stripe 2.9% + $0.30, Square 2.9% + $0.30, PayPal 2.9% + $0.30. But: Square charges extra for invoices ($1/invoice). PayPal charges for transfers ($1 each). Stripe doesn't. On 100 invoices/month, Square costs $100 extra. Over a year: $1,200 difference. Choose the processor that fits your payment mix.
5 min readYou think your Stripe cost is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. But failed payment retries (costing you $0.35 per retry, sometimes 3 retries per failed card), refunds (2.9% reversed), chargebacks ($15 fee), and currency conversion (2% for international) add 1-3% more. On $500K annual revenue, that's $5K-15K in "hidden" payment costs.
5 min readUK in-person payment processors all claim "1.69%" as their headline rate. But: SumUp charges £20/month subscription (hidden). Square charges for invoicing (£1 per invoice). iZettle has no add-ons. True cost: SumUp 1.87% (if 1,000 transactions/month), Square 1.78%, iZettle 1.69%. iZettle wins, but most retailers don't know.
5 min read