What does it cost to get card sales into your bank faster than the next business day?
Summary
Between 1.5% and 1.95% of the amount you move, on top of your processing fees. Square charges 1.95% for instant and same-day transfers, QuickBooks Payments 1.75%, and Stripe and PayPal 1.5% with a 50-cent minimum. On a $25 Square sale moved instantly, processing plus the transfer takes about 5.1% of the sale.
What $1,000 costs to move today
Make it a habit with $20,000 a month and the bill comes to $390 at Square, $350 at QuickBooks Payments, and $300 at Stripe.
Stripe describes payouts on its standard schedule as free. PayPal lists no fee for a standard withdrawal to a linked bank account when no currency conversion is involved.
The transfer fee stacks on the card fee
Square Free charges 2.6% plus 15 cents for an in-person payment. On a $25 sale that is 80 cents, leaving $24.20. Send the $24.20 instantly and 1.95% of it adds about 47 cents. The sale has now cost about $1.27, or 5.1%, close to double the 2.6% on the price list.
How fast, and how much you can move
Square. Instant transfers go to a linked bank account or debit card around the clock. You need a balance of at least $25 after fees ($1 for same-day, which is sent 15 minutes after your close of day). New sellers start with one instant transfer a day of up to $2,000. Single payments over $10,000 are not eligible for instant or same-day transfer.
QuickBooks Payments. Instant deposits arrive in less than 30 minutes, from $1 up to $125,000 a day, up to five times a day. Requests made before 3 PM PT are paid the same day, and you have to take the whole available balance. The account has to be active and in good standing.
Stripe. Instant Payouts can be requested any day, weekends and holidays included, and typically land within 30 minutes. The cap is 10 a day. New users are not eligible straight away, and money collected by ACH or bank debit qualifies only after it settles.
PayPal. An instant transfer to a bank is limited to $25,000 per transaction.
Friday's sales and the weekend
For comparison, the standard routes are next business day at Square for payments taken before 5 PM PT, and next business day at QuickBooks Payments for most card payments processed before 3 PM PT. Square holds Friday's transfers in your balance over the weekend by default so they can be pulled out instantly. Left alone, they arrive Monday, or Tuesday when Monday is a bank holiday. QuickBooks Payments processes standard deposits Monday through Saturday, except Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Sources
- squareup.com/help/us/en/article/3807-deposit-options-with-square
- squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/software/pricing
- quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/bank-deposits/g…
- quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/receive-payment…
- docs.stripe.com/payouts/instant-payouts
- stripe.com/pricing
- paypalobjects.com/marketing/ua/pdf/US/us-merchant-fees-01-september-20…
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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.