Open dataset · Updated quarterly
2026 Payment Processor Effective Rate Database (US)
Effective rate for 12 U.S. payment processors at four monthly-volume tiers, by channel. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.
Key 2026 effective-rate findings
- At $10K monthly volume, the cheapest U.S. processor is Helcim at 2.51% online; the most expensive is PayPal at 3.07%. The 0.56-point gap costs a $10K/month merchant about $672/year.
- At $250K monthly volume, interchange-plus options (Helcim 2.37%, Payment Depot 2.18%, Stax 2.21%) beat all flat-rate processors by 0.50-0.80 percentage points.
- At $1M+ monthly volume, the lowest effective rates are Adyen 1.91%, Worldpay (negotiated) 1.98%, and Payment Depot 2.09%. Above this volume, every processor will negotiate.
- Square is the cheapest in-person processor under $80K monthly volume because hardware is free and tap-to-pay is built in. Above $80K, Helcim and Stax usually beat Square.
- PayPal has the highest sticker fee but typically lifts checkout conversion by 5-10% due to its installed user base — net cost can be lower than Stripe at the same volume.
Where does your business land in this table?
Get a 60-second match with the 3 processors that fit your channel mix, volume, and ticket size — with negotiation questions for each.
Effective rate by processor × volume × channel
Each cell shows the all-in effective rate for the given processor at the given monthly volume tier, blended with a standard card mix.
| Processor | Channel | $10K/mo | $50K/mo | $250K/mo | $1M/mo | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Online | 2.97% | 2.95% | 2.92% | 2.88% | Flat-rate (negotiable >$80K) |
| Stripe | In-Person | 2.73% | 2.71% | 2.68% | 2.64% | Flat-rate |
| Square | In-Person | 2.65% | 2.63% | 2.60% | 2.56% | Flat-rate |
| Square | Online | 2.95% | 2.93% | 2.90% | 2.86% | Flat-rate |
| PayPal | Online | 3.07% | 3.05% | 3.01% | 2.97% | Flat-rate |
| Helcim | Online | 2.51% | 2.43% | 2.37% | 2.31% | Interchange-plus |
| Helcim | In-Person | 2.41% | 2.33% | 2.27% | 2.21% | Interchange-plus |
| Stax (Fattmerchant) | Mixed | 2.85% | 2.45% | 2.21% | 2.13% | Subscription + IC-plus |
| Payment Depot | Mixed | 2.88% | 2.41% | 2.18% | 2.09% | Membership + IC-plus |
| Clover | In-Person | 2.61% | 2.58% | 2.55% | 2.50% | Flat-rate (tiered) |
| Authorize.net | Online | 2.96% | 2.94% | 2.91% | 2.87% | Gateway + processor markup |
| Braintree | Online | 2.67% | 2.65% | 2.62% | 2.58% | Flat-rate |
| Adyen | Online | 2.32% | 2.18% | 2.04% | 1.91% | Interchange-plus |
| Shopify Payments | Online | 2.95% | 2.78% | 2.55% | 2.45% | Plan-bundled |
| Worldpay | Mixed | 2.61% | 2.41% | 2.18% | 1.98% | Negotiated |
Notes column (open to expand)
- Stripe (Online)
- Best for SaaS, subscriptions, custom checkout.
- Stripe (In-Person)
- Terminal hardware $59-249. Thinner POS ecosystem than Square.
- Square (In-Person)
- Free hardware on entry tier. Best for retail under $80K monthly.
- Square (Online)
- Simpler than Stripe; weaker subscription engine.
- PayPal (Online)
- Adds 5-10% checkout conversion via 400M+ accounts. Higher per-tx fixed fee ($0.49).
- Helcim (Online)
- No monthly fee. Volume discounts auto-apply. Strong above $25K.
- Helcim (In-Person)
- Often beats Stripe + Square above $25K.
- Stax (Fattmerchant) (Mixed)
- $99-199/mo. Win threshold: $80K+ monthly.
- Payment Depot (Mixed)
- $79-199/mo. Designed for >$100K monthly.
- Clover (In-Person)
- Owned by Fiserv. All-in-one POS hardware + software.
- Authorize.net (Online)
- $25/mo gateway. Bring your own merchant account.
- Braintree (Online)
- PayPal-owned. Strong for marketplaces and recurring billing.
- Adyen (Online)
- Enterprise / global. Min ~$120K monthly. Strong cross-border.
- Shopify Payments (Online)
- Lower tier on Advanced/Plus plans. Only for Shopify stores.
- Worldpay (Mixed)
- Mid-market / enterprise. Always negotiate.
Methodology
Effective rate for each processor at each volume tier was computed by applying the processor's published 2026 pricing to a standard U.S. card mix: 60% credit cards (50% Visa/MC, 30% rewards, 20% standard), 40% debit cards (regulated under Durbin amendment for issuers >$10B in assets). Hidden fees included where the processor publishes them (PCI compliance, statement, batch, monthly minimum). Custom-negotiated rates excluded.
Real merchant effective rates typically come within ±0.15 percentage points of these benchmarks. Statements that show a gap larger than 0.30 points usually indicate hidden markup that can be negotiated or replaced.
Sources
- Stripe pricing — stripe.com/pricing
- Square pricing — squareup.com/us/en/pricing
- PayPal merchant fees — paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees
- Helcim pricing — helcim.com/pricing
- Stax pricing — staxpayments.com/pricing
- Payment Depot — paymentdepot.com/pricing
- Adyen pricing — adyen.com/pricing
- Federal Reserve, "Average Debit-Card Interchange Fee by Payment Card Network" — federalreserve.gov
- Nilson Report, U.S. Card Payments by Network (2026)
Citing this dataset
Licensed under CC BY 4.0. To cite:
myPayAdvisor (2026). 2026 Payment Processor Effective Rate Database (US). myPayAdvisor.com/data/effective-rates-2026. Reviewed by Barak Bachar, Global Payments Manager.