Stripe Credit Card Fees: 2.9% + $0.30 & Your Real Rate
8 min read · Stripe Fees · Updated Aug 2026
For many US online domestic card payments, Stripe credit card processing fees start at 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge. That is $3.20 on $100, or an effective 3.2%. The percentage is higher on small payments because the fixed $0.30 represents more of the sale. Rates checked August 19, 2026 against Stripe's official pricing.
Your real monthly cost can exceed the headline card rate when the mix includes international cards, currency conversion, refunds, disputes, Stripe Billing, Radar, payout fees, or other products. Calculate Stripe fees from published pricing first. Then analyze actual fees from a Balance CSV instead of multiplying revenue by one headline percentage.
What the 2.9% + $0.30 line actually covers
That pair is a common US online card schedule, not a promise that your month will print 2.9%. Interchange-plus accounts, other countries, and in-person / card-present rates use different numbers. I still start here because most SaaS founders who paste a Dashboard screenshot are on this schedule.
One charge: fee = amount × 0.029 + 0.30. Effective % = fee ÷ amount. The table above is that formula, nothing fancier. If your question is a $5 coffee-sized invoice, the small-transactions article is the right tab. If your question is “what percent does Stripe take?” as a headline, use the percent page.
Why a real month is almost never 2.9%
The CSV we published as a case study landed at 3.82% on charges and 4.02% all-in on $3,597.77 of fees. Nobody had changed the published card rate. International rows, refunds that keep the original processing fee, and a few product lines did the work.
Keep two rates. Processing rate = charge-related fees ÷ charge volume. All-in = every Stripe fee line ÷ the same volume. If those two numbers diverge, you are not looking at “card pricing.” You are looking at Radar, Billing, payouts, disputes, or conversion.
What I check before anyone talks about leaving Stripe
Share of charges with [international] in the description. Count of refunds vs original fee retained. Bucket of charges under $20. Whether Billing 0.7% (pay-as-you-go) is even in the file — on many accounts those lines show up as generic `fee` rows, so you will not see the word “Billing” unless you already know to look.
Then run the published-price calculator on a typical ticket so you know the floor. Then upload the CSV. The gap between those two numbers is the whole product.
Free Stripe Fee Audit: real uploads receive the complete report with no signup or credit card. The raw CSV is not stored; computed reports stay available for up to 30 days under our Privacy Policy.
Common questions
What are Stripe credit card processing fees?
For many US online domestic cards on standard pricing, Stripe starts at 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge. Rates differ by country, payment method, and custom pricing plan.
How much is the Stripe fee on $100?
At 2.9% + $0.30, the fee on a $100 domestic online card charge is $3.20, which is an effective rate of 3.2%.
Why is my Stripe credit card fee higher than 2.9%?
The fixed $0.30 raises the effective percentage, especially on small payments. International cards, currency conversion, refunds, disputes, and additional Stripe products can increase the monthly all-in rate further.
Does Stripe return credit card processing fees after a refund?
Stripe says the original payment processing, Connect, and currency-conversion fees are generally not returned on standard pricing, although refund rules and custom plans can differ.
How can I calculate my real Stripe processing rate?
Divide charge-processing fees by processed charge volume for the same period. Then calculate a separate all-in rate using every Stripe fee line so you can see costs outside ordinary card processing. Use the Stripe fee calculator for a published-price estimate and the Balance CSV analyzer for actual fees.
Related guides
Official sources
Pricing and payment rules can change. Use official docs as the current reference, then compare them with your own Stripe export.
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