What Stripe Charges for Tap to Pay on a Phone
Stripe's own pricing page describes Tap to Pay and lists its in-person card rate. Here is what it says, rate by rate.
A customer holds a phone over your phone and the sale goes through. No card reader on the counter, nothing plugged in, nothing bought. Stripe calls this Tap to Pay. Its pricing page says it takes contactless payments with no extra hardware. It works on compatible iPhone or Android devices. Here is what that page says about the cost, line by line.
What Tap to Pay is, per Stripe's pricing page
Tap to Pay turns a phone into the reader. Stripe's pricing page says Tap to Pay accepts contactless payments without additional hardware using compatible iPhone or Android devices. So the answer to the common question of whether you need to buy a card reader is no, not for this method. A compatible iPhone or Android device does the job.
The in-person rate Stripe's pricing page lists
Stripe's pricing page says in-person card payments cost 2.7% + 5¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards. Stripe's page does not list a separate Tap to Pay rate.
For comparison on the same page, Stripe's pricing page says its standard online rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards. So the in-person rate is the lower of the two. The flat part is a nickel, not thirty cents. On a small sale that flat part matters a lot. A $5 coffee pays 5¢ flat in person and 30¢ flat online, before the percentage is even counted.
How Tap to Pay fits into Stripe Terminal
Stripe's pricing page says Terminal lets businesses accept in-person payments and unify commerce. The same page says all Terminal transactions are end-to-end encrypted by default.
What Stripe's pricing page says about setup fees, monthly fees and hidden fees
This is the part many small business owners brace for. Stripe's pricing page says Stripe does not charge setup fees, monthly fees, or hidden fees like closure fees. It also says its standard plan has no setup fees, monthly fees, or hidden fees. Standard pricing is pay-as-you-go. You pay when you take a payment.
The page also says all fees for businesses on standard pricing are listed on its website. That is a useful promise to hold a company to. If a fee is not on the published list, ask about it before you sign.
Two small notes from the same page sit near the rates. Stripe's pricing page says international cards add 1.5% and currency conversion adds 1%. It also says Stripe must charge tax on certain products and services. The tax is based on your location or your business or tax status. Neither is a Tap to Pay charge, but both can land on a sale you took with your phone.
Refunds and other fee notes from Stripe's pricing page
Refunds are where money quietly stays behind. Stripe's pricing page says the payment processing, Connect and currency conversion fees from the original transaction are not returned. So if you refund a $100 tap, the percentage you paid on that sale does not come back to you.
The page does draw a line between refund methods. It says businesses on standard pricing may face fees for refunds when bank transfers are used. For all other payment methods, refunds have no fee.
When custom pricing applies, per Stripe's pricing page
Stripe's pricing page says Stripe offers custom pricing for businesses with large processing volumes, and eligibility varies by market. It says custom packages are for businesses with large payments volume or unique business models. Stripe offers volume-based discounts based on volume tiers, commitments, and product usage.
If your sales are high, that door is worth a knock. The page says businesses on custom pricing may face refund fees. It depends on their fee schedule with Stripe. Read that schedule before you switch from standard pricing.
Confirming current prices before you sign up
Every number above came from Stripe's pricing page, and published prices change. Check the page on the day you sign up, and read the lines for your own situation. Stripe's pricing page says dashboards, tools, and APIs give you transparency into your costs. Once you are running, watch the numbers in your dashboard.
Want to see how one tap compares across companies? A forty dollar sale at the counter walks through one ticket on several price lists. And if you are weighing the cost of getting your money faster, paying to be paid tonight covers what fast payouts cost.