Fee Education
Why Is My Stripe Fee Rate Higher Than 2.9%?
Stripe advertises 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. But most businesses pay 3.2–3.8% when averaged across all charges. Here are the five reasons why — with real numbers.
International Cards
When your customer's card is issued outside your country, Stripe adds a cross-border fee of +1.5%. If 20% of your customers are international, this alone adds ~0.3% to your effective rate.
20% international customers × 1.5% = +0.30% on your effective rate
Currency Conversion
If you charge in USD but your customer's bank settles in EUR or GBP, Stripe applies an FX markup on top of the base rate. This is separate from the cross-border fee and often invisible in the Dashboard.
FX markup is embedded in the exchange rate — not shown as a separate line item
Refunds
Stripe keeps the processing fee when you issue a refund. The original transaction fee is not returned. A 5% refund rate adds meaningful cost across large volumes.
5% refund rate on $100k revenue = $1,450 in non-refundable fees
Stripe Radar
If you use Radar for fraud protection beyond the basic included tier, there's an additional $0.02–$0.07 per transaction. This shows up as a separate line in your Balance report.
1,000 transactions × $0.05 Radar fee = $50/month extra
Micro-Transactions
On small charges, the fixed $0.30 component dominates. A $2.00 charge has an effective rate of 17.9% — this drags up your average significantly if you have many small payments.
$2.00 charge: 2.9% ($0.06) + $0.30 = $0.36 total = 17.9% effective rate
Common questions
Why is my Stripe fee rate higher than 2.9%?
Your effective Stripe fee rate can be higher than the published 2.9% + $0.30 because of international card fees, currency conversion, non-refundable fees on refunds, Radar charges, disputes, and small transactions where the fixed fee is a large share of the payment.
Does Stripe return processing fees when I refund a payment?
No. When you issue a refund, Stripe generally does not return the original processing fee. This can increase your effective fee rate if your business has a meaningful refund rate.
How can I calculate my real Stripe effective fee rate?
Export your Stripe Balance Transactions CSV and divide total Stripe fees by total processed charge volume for the same period. Stripe Fee Auditor does this from your real CSV and shows the transactions driving the rate up.
See exactly which of these apply to you
Upload your Stripe Balance CSV. Get your real effective rate, monthly breakdown, and the specific transactions driving it up.
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