What does it cost you when a customer pays with a card from another country?
Summary
Usually another 1.5% of the sale on top of the normal fee. Square and Stripe add 1.5% for cards issued abroad, PayPal adds 1.50% to international commercial transactions, and Stripe adds a further 1% when it has to convert currency. Chase's basic pricing is the exception on this list: its fee page names no international add-on and says all cards cost the same.
Who adds what
| Provider | International add-on | What counts as international |
|---|---|---|
| Square | 1.5% | A card issued in a different country from your Square account's location |
| Stripe | 1.5%, online and in person, plus 1% if currency conversion is required | International cards |
| PayPal | 1.50% | Sender and receiver are residents of different markets |
| Chase (basic pricing) | None stated | Not addressed on the fee page |
The last column matters more than it looks. Square keys the fee to where the card was issued. PayPal keys it to where you and your customer are registered, so a foreign card is not the test. Square also leaves some payment types out entirely: Afterpay, ACH, Cash App Pay, Bitcoin, and EBT payments carry no international fee.
One $200 sale on Stripe
A shopper with a U.K. card buys $200 of goods online. Charged in dollars, the sale costs 2.9% + 1.5% + 30¢, or $9.10, against $6.10 for a U.S. card. If the same sale is charged in pounds and paid out to a dollar account, Stripe converts it and adds 1%, bringing the fee to 5.4% + 30¢, or $11.10. Stripe converts whenever the charge currency differs from the currency your bank account uses.
What Chase actually says
Chase's merchant-fee FAQ asks whether certain cards cost more than others. The answer: on basic pricing, all cards cost the same, and on custom pricing, fees may vary by card type. The page does not mention foreign cards at all.
Your customer's bank may charge them too
Everything above comes out of your payout. Your customer's card issuer can bill them separately. Stripe notes that an issuer may charge a foreign exchange fee when the charge currency differs from the card's, and may charge even in the same currency when the card and your business are in different countries. None of that appears on your statement.
This site's effective-rate figures leave foreign and business card surcharges out, so a shop with many overseas customers pays more than those figures show.
Sources
- squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5068-what-are-square-s-fees
- stripe.com/us/pricing
- docs.stripe.com/currencies
- paypal.com/us/business/paypal-business-fees
- chase.com/business/payments/merchant-fees
Related on this site
- What the headline rate leaves out
- Do online card payments cost more than in-person ones?
- Effective rate calculator
- Method: how the figures are produced
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.