{
  "id": "credit-card-processing-fee",
  "version": "374eff8da597",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Credit Card Processing Fee Calculator",
  "question": "What is my credit card processing fee?",
  "summary": "Works out the fee on a card sale from a percent rate and a fixed fee per transaction, what you keep, the effective rate, and the price to charge to keep the whole sale.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "business",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/credit-card-processing-fee-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/credit-card-processing-fee-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "Processing fee = sale × percent fee ÷ 100 + fixed fee. You receive = sale − fee. Effective rate = fee ÷ sale × 100. Price to charge to receive the full sale = (sale + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percent fee ÷ 100).",
  "assumptions": [
    "One percent rate and one fixed fee per payment, as typed; no monthly, statement or chargeback fees.",
    "The fee on a gross-up price is figured the same way as on any sale. Card network rules and state laws limit surcharges; check them before adding one.",
    "Arithmetic is exact on the typed decimals; money shows to the cent and the rate to 2 decimals, halves rounded up."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "amount": {
        "title": "Sale amount",
        "description": "The amount of one card payment.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0.01,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "rate": {
        "title": "Percent fee",
        "description": "The percent of each sale your processor charges, from your statement or contract.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 50
      },
      "fixed": {
        "title": "Fixed fee per transaction",
        "description": "The flat amount charged on each payment. Optional; empty counts as $0.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000
      },
      "count": {
        "title": "Number of payments",
        "description": "How many payments of this amount, for totals such as a month’s card sales. Optional.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "fee": {
      "label": "Processing fee",
      "description": "Sale × percent fee ÷ 100 + fixed fee.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "net": {
      "label": "You receive",
      "description": "Sale − processing fee.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "effective": {
      "label": "Effective rate",
      "description": "Processing fee ÷ sale × 100: the whole fee as a percent of the sale.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "charge": {
      "label": "Charge this to receive the full sale",
      "description": "(Sale + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percent fee ÷ 100): after the fee on it, the whole sale is left.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "surcharge": {
      "label": "Fee passed on",
      "description": "Charge to receive the full sale − sale.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "totalFees": {
      "label": "Total fees",
      "description": "Processing fee × number of payments. Shown when the number is typed.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "totalNet": {
      "label": "Total you receive",
      "description": "You receive × number of payments. Shown when the number is typed.",
      "format": "money"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "amount": 100,
      "rate": 2.9,
      "fixed": 0.3
    },
    "outputs": {
      "fee": 3.2,
      "net": 96.8,
      "effective": 3.2,
      "charge": 103.29557157569516,
      "surcharge": 3.29557157569516
    },
    "text": "A $100.00 card payment at 2.9% plus $0.30 costs $3.20 in processing fees, leaving $96.80."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "amount": 100,
        "rate": 2.9,
        "fixed": 0.3
      },
      "expect": {
        "fee": 3.2,
        "net": 96.8,
        "effective": 3.2,
        "charge": 103.29557157569516,
        "surcharge": 3.29557157569516
      },
      "source": "Regulation II, 12 CFR 235.3(b) (21 cents plus 5 basis points of the value of the transaction), https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/235.3 (the fee structure); hand calculation in content.mdx; Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-137/xcheck.py: 100 × 2.9% + 0.30 = 3.20; (100 + 0.30) ÷ 0.971 = 103.30"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "amount": 39,
        "rate": 0.05,
        "fixed": 0.21
      },
      "expect": {
        "fee": 0.2295,
        "net": 38.7705,
        "effective": 0.5884615384615385
      },
      "source": "Regulation II, Appendix A, Official Board Commentary, comment 3(b)-3, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/appendix-A_to_part_235: for a $39 transaction the maximum fee is 22.95 cents; Regulation II, 12 CFR 235.3(b) (21 cents plus 5 basis points of the value of the transaction), https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/235.3"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "amount": 50,
        "rate": 0.05,
        "fixed": 0.22
      },
      "expect": {
        "fee": 0.245,
        "net": 49.755,
        "effective": 0.49
      },
      "source": "Federal Reserve Board press release, October 25, 2023 (a $50 debit card transaction: 24.5 cents under the current rule), https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20231025a.htm; Regulation II, 12 CFR 235.3(b) (21 cents plus 5 basis points of the value of the transaction), https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/235.3: 21 + 2.5 + 1 = 24.5 cents"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "amount": 25.5,
        "rate": 2.6,
        "fixed": 0.15,
        "count": 1200
      },
      "expect": {
        "fee": 0.813,
        "net": 24.687,
        "totalFees": 975.6,
        "totalNet": 29624.4
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx; Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-137/xcheck.py: 25.50 × 2.6% + 0.15 = 0.813; × 1,200 = 975.60"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "Regulation II, 12 CFR 235.3(b): an interchange fee may be no more than 21 cents plus 5 basis points multiplied by the value of the transaction (a fixed amount plus a percent of the payment). Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/235.3 (retrieved 2026-10-19)",
    "Regulation II, Appendix A, Official Board Commentary, comment 3(b)-3: for a $39 transaction the maximum fee is 22.95 cents (21 cents plus 5 basis points of $39). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/appendix-A_to_part_235 (retrieved 2026-10-19)",
    "Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, press release, October 25, 2023: the cap applies to issuers with $10 billion or more in assets, and on an average $50 debit card transaction it is 24.5 cents under the current rule (21 cents, 5 basis points and the 1-cent fraud-prevention adjustment of 12 CFR 235.4). https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20231025a.htm (retrieved 2026-10-19)"
  ],
  "related": [
    "paypal-fee",
    "sales-tax",
    "margin"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}