Cost Plus Payment Processing
Cost Plus Payment Processing is a payment pricing structure that involves you as a seller paying the costs of processing each payment plus a fixed markup that Square as your payment processor takes as revenue. There are two components of Cost Plus:
- Cost of processing payments - Variable transaction fees and and settlement fees which come directly from card issuers and networks like Visa and Mastercard.
- Plus - The fixed markup that Square charges on top of the cost of processing. This is unique to each seller and reflected in your agreement. It typically includes a percentage fee.
The cost of processing payments will vary based on many factors, including the card types your buyers use (e.g. credit card vs debit card). Cost Plus offers transparency into these costs and the added markup for each payment.
While the cost of processing payments will vary on many factors like the card types your buyers use, Cost Plus offers greater transparency into these costs and the added markup for each payment.
With Cost Plus Payment Processing you will be charged an initial blended payment processing fee at the time of a transaction. Square will transfer money from payments, minus the blended payment processing fee, into your bank account in one to two business days depending on your settlement schedule.
Once per month, Square will determine the total cost of processing each transaction. We then add your negotiated markup to each transaction to reflect Cost Plus pricing. Each month we will issue an adjustment to reflect the cost of processing transactions plus a fixed markup. Your monthly adjustment is composed of two fee-types: network and transaction fees.
Square is charged a fee for each transfer that you make out of your Square account. The amount of the fee depends on the number of transfers that happen within the given month. Square will pass these fees along each month without adding margin.
When Square processes transactions we are charged fees by credit card networks. If you have a big increase in cards that cost us more to process (like International Cards), your total monthly processing fees will likely increase. On the other hand, if you process a lot of lower cost cards (like debit cards) or have higher value transactions your processing fees will likely decrease.
Square Does Not Charge Fees For:
Activation
Downloading the Square Point of Sale app
Account inactivity
PCI compliance
Reporting
We provide transaction-level reporting to increase transparency while clearly explaining the total cost of each transaction. To view your transaction details, log in to your Square Dashboard and click Transactions.
Within the Reports section of your Square Dashboard, you can access a comprehensive fee report for each month. Additionally, the fee report also highlights trends over time.
To view the fees taken out of each transfer:
Log in to your Square Dashboard and click Balance > View all transfers.
Select a date range from the date selector tool.
Select a transfer from the list for an overview of the total fees paid.
To view fees associated with each transaction in your selected transfer date range, click Export.
Transaction Adjustment Example
Your personalised list of initial blended fees can be found in the Pricing & Subscriptions section of your online Square Dashboard. For this example, we will assume the Chip and PIN processing fee is 1.75% + 0p. We are also assuming a negotiated fee of Cost + 1.00% + 0p.
Swipe [Transaction X], 09/09/2023:
Transaction Amount = £20.00
Initial Fee = £0.35 (CP Initial processing fee = 1.75%) Note: CP Initial processing fee is unique to you and may not be 1.75%
Actual Total Processing Cost to Square = £0.10
Total Cost Incurred by you = £0.10 + (£20.00 * 1.00%) + 0p = £0.50
[Transaction X] Adjustment 08/10/2023 = £0.05 credited to your account
Apart from the processing fees, remember that there may also be settlement fees.
Supported Countries
Cost Plus is currently supported in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and Canada.
View Your Fees
View your current rates at any time from your online Square Dashboard. To view the fees taken out of each transfer:
Go to Money > Balance from your Square Dashboard.
Click View all transfers.
Select a date range from the date selector tool in the top-left corner.
Select a transfer from the list for an overview of the total fees paid.
To view fees associated with each transaction in your selected transfer date range, click Export.