Short answer
Your total processing fees divided by your total card volume for the same period: the one number that makes any two pricing setups comparable.
The effective rate captures everything you pay to accept cards: percentage fees, fixed per-transaction fees, surcharges for international cards and currency conversion, dispute fees and product fees such as Stripe Billing. A merchant on “2.9% + 30¢” often pays well over 3% once those are added.
To find yours, add every fee on your statements for a quarter and divide by the card volume for that quarter. The Stripe fee calculator does the arithmetic, and Stripe fees explained lists every fee that belongs in the total.
Part of our guide to Stripe fees explained.
Related terms
- Interchange: The fee the cardholder's bank (the issuer) charges on every card payment, set by Visa and Mastercard and paid through your processor.
- Basis points (bps): One basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point: 0.01%. 25 basis points is 0.25%.
- Flat-rate pricing: One fixed price for every card payment, such as 2.9% + 30¢, whatever the card type and real cost underneath.