Effective rate calculator
Two numbers off your statement give you the only figure worth comparing between providers: what you actually pay, as a percentage of what you actually sell.
Your effective rate
—
- Fees paid —
- Card sales —
- Cost per $100 sold —
Enter your numbers
Put your fees and your card sales in the boxes and you will get a plain-English read on the result.
Worked out in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
How the maths works
One line of arithmetic:
Total fees ÷ total card sales × 100 = your effective rate.
Why this beats comparing quoted rates
Say one provider quotes 1.99% and another quotes 2.45%. The first one sounds better. But if the first adds a monthly statement fee, a PCI fee, a gateway fee and terminal rental, and the second one does not, the cheaper-sounding deal can end up costing more. The effective rate is what is left after all the marketing.
About the verdict
The plain-English verdict uses rough bands. Those bands are provisional and still need proper, sourced benchmarks split by industry and card mix: {{VERIFY: effective rate benchmark bands by industry and channel, Canada and US, need a citable source}}
That is why the verdict is worded as a prompt to look closer, not as a promise. A person reading your actual statement will tell you far more than a threshold can. That is what the free review is for.
Reading the result honestly
- Small average sale? Per-sale fees of a few cents become a big percentage. A coffee shop is always going to look worse than a furniture store.
- Selling online? Card-not-present sales cost more than tapped ones, because the risk of fraud is higher. That is true with every provider.
- Quiet month? Fixed monthly fees spread over less volume push your effective rate up. Try a normal month for a fairer picture.
Common questions
What is an effective rate?
Everything you paid your processor in a month, divided by everything you sold on cards that month. It rolls the rate, the per-sale fees and every fixed charge into one number.
Why does it matter more than the rate I was quoted?
Because the quoted rate only covers part of the bill. A low headline rate with a long list of monthly fees can cost more than a plain, slightly higher rate. The effective rate is the only figure that captures all of it.
Which number on my statement is total fees?
Look for a line near the bottom such as "total fees", "total charges" or "amount deducted". If your processor deducts fees daily instead of monthly, add up the deductions for the month.
What counts as card volume?
The total value of card sales you processed that month, before any fees came off. It is usually shown as "total sales", "gross volume" or "amount submitted".
Is a low effective rate always better?
Usually, but not always. A business selling big-ticket items will naturally have a lower effective rate than a coffee shop, because per-sale fees barely register. Compare yourself to businesses like yours, not to a number on the internet.
We're a referral service, not a payment processor. We may be paid when you use our free review. Details.