Is card processing from your own bank cheaper than Square or Stripe?

Summary

Not reliably. On published in-person pricing, a store doing $30,000 a month at a $25 ticket would pay $870 with Stripe, $900 with Chase or PNC, $960 with Square, and about $980 with Wells Fargo once its monthly fees are added. Where a bank does stand apart is funding speed, and at Chase that speed depends on whether the money lands in a Chase account.

One store, five price lists

The store: $30,000 a month in card-present sales, 1,200 transactions of $25. Hardware is left out for everyone.

Wells Fargo's monthly line is a $9.95 merchant account fee plus a $10 PCI compliance fee, each charged per merchant ID. Chase says monthly fees may apply to certain products and plans without giving an amount. PNC's rates exclude equipment and chargeback fees.

Wells Fargo is the one list that moves with volume. Its tap, dip, or swipe rate drops to 2.50% + $0.15 from $40,000 a month and to 2.40% + $0.15 from $80,000. A store selling $80,000 a month at a $100 ticket would pay Wells Fargo $2,059.95, Chase or PNC $2,160, and Stripe or Square $2,200, which turns the ranking upside down.

What the bank relationship buys

Funding is the clearest bank advantage. Chase pays out the same day with QuickAccept into a Chase account (every day but Saturday, if you settle by 8 PM ET), the next business day with its standalone merchant services into a Chase account, and in two to three business days to any other bank. PNC advertises next-day funding into select PNC business checking accounts, though it only asks applicants for a business checking account at the bank of their choice.

Chase also waives the monthly service fee on a Business Complete Banking account for clients processing more than $2,000 a month in payments.

Square treats every bank the same. Payments taken before 5 PM PT arrive the next business day, nothing is sent on Saturdays, and an instant transfer costs 1.95%.

Fees that sit outside the rate

Wells Fargo says it does not charge extra for chargebacks or foreign transactions. Stripe adds 1.5% for international cards and Square charges a 1.5% international card fee, which can outweigh a tenth of a point in base rate at a store with many foreign visitors. One catch sits in Wells Fargo's footnotes: bring your own terminal or gateway and in-person sales may be billed at its online or keyed rates.

Sources

• chase.com/business/payments/merchant-fees
• chase.com/business/payments
• chase.com/business/support/payments/funding
• wellsfargo.com/biz/merchant/payment-processing-pricing
• wellsfargo.com/biz/merchant
• pnc.com/en/small-business/payments-and-processing/merchant-services.html
• squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees
• squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/retail/pricing
• squareup.com/help/us/en/article/3807-deposit-options-with-square
• stripe.com/pricing

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• Do U.S. Bank's published card rates apply if you sign up at a branch?
• Who publishes a card rate, and who does not
• Every provider we hold, and which publish a rate
• Effective rate calculator

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.