💳 Are You Paying Too Much to Process Card Payments?
A small difference in your payment rate can add up to thousands of dollars a year.
Whether you take payments in-store or online, looking at the percentage rate alone doesn’t give you the full picture. To calculate the true cost of card processing for your business, you need to factor in:
- Transaction fees
- Merchant/service fees
- Monthly terminal or platform fees
- POS or payment software costs
- Your average transaction size
- Your total card turnover
To simplify this process, you can use these two Payment Cost Comparison Calculators from Small Business Network:
- In-Store & EFTPOS Payments: Compare what you’re currently paying with alternative providers to estimate your potential annual savings.
- 👉 https://www.smallbusinessnetwork.org.au/tools/eftpos-cost-comparison-calculator
- Online Payments: Evaluate and compare the full costs of different online payment options side by side.
If you have already received new quotes, you can plug those exact rates into the calculators to compare them against your current setup. Default rates in the tool are based on publicly advertised Australian pricing verified in September 2026.
While these calculators provide estimates, every business’s numbers are different, and that’s the point.
Don’t guess what your payment fees are costing you. Run your numbers using the Payment Cost Comparison Calculators today.
📌Frequently Asked Questions:Â
Q: How do I calculate the total cost of processing card payments?
To calculate your total card processing cost, add your variable transaction fees (percentage per sale plus fixed cents per transaction) to your fixed monthly overheads (EFTPOS terminal rental, payment gateway fees, and POS integration costs). Divide this total monthly expense by your total monthly card sales volume to find your effective processing rate.
Q: What is a good EFTPOS transaction rate for small businesses in Australia?
EFTPOS and card processing rates typically range between 0.8% and 1.9% depending on whether you use flat-rate pricing, interchange-plus pricing, or tiered merchant plans. Higher average transaction sizes or larger total monthly turnover usually qualify your business for lower custom percentage rates.
Q: What is the difference between EFTPOS fees and online payment gateway fees?
In-store EFTPOS fees cover card-present transactions through a physical terminal, which carry lower fraud risk and lower processing costs. Online payment gateway fees cover card-not-present transactions, which incur higher security overheads, anti-fraud screening costs, and higher percentage rates from merchant providers.
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Q: How much can a small business save by switching payment providers?
A business processing $30,000 per month in card payments can save anywhere from $1,200 to $3,500+ annually by reducing their processing rate by just 0.4% to 0.8% and eliminating unnecessary monthly terminal or software add-on fees.
Wayne Wanders is an experienced Business Advisor and Outsourced CFO who can help to scale and grow your business profitably.Â
Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.
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