The costs of accepting payments online vary widely and depend on a large range of factors. A number of different entities receive a cut of your payment before you finally receive it in your account. The acquiring bank, payment provider, customer's issuing bank and the card schemes will all take a percentage of your payment or a flat fee per payment or both in some cases. There are also all the setup and administrative fees to be paid which in some cases will need to be paid regardless of whether you process a single payment.

Don't be too worried about the complexity of all the different fees that are taken off your payment. The calculation of the fees associated with your Internet Merchant Account will happen automatically and without any input required from you. You will just receive the payment in your account minus all the fees. It is important however to be aware of how much you are being charged so that you can budget and plan for it.

Depending on the volume of transactions you expect to process and the average transaction amount you may find that some pricing models are more suited than others. We recommend that you get quotes from a number of providers and compare them to find a package that best fits your needs.

Most PSPs, Payment Bureaus and acquiring banks tend to charge setup fees for new accounts. If you are going to be processing a large volume of transactions then you may be able to negotiate a reduced fee. The pricing structures are usually based on transaction fees and minimum monthly fees. The transaction fee may be a percentage of the transaction amount or a flat fee per transaction or both. A minimum monthly fee would be paid regardless of the number of transactions processed.

Our Payment Service Provider comparison table allows you to compare the costs assocated with the Payment Service Providers who work with Irish Merchants.

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