Card or bank transfer: how to cut payment fees on big jobs

On a large invoice, a bank transfer (ACH) costs you a fraction of what a card does, because a card fee is a percentage of the whole amount while Stripe’s ACH fee stops growing at a cap. Through FieldFlow a card payment costs 3.2% + $0.30 and a bank transfer 1.1% or less, so on a $4,000 job the bank transfer saves you about $110. The trick is offering it without making the customer work for it.

Why is a card so much more expensive on a big job?

A card fee is a percentage plus a small fixed amount, so it grows with the invoice. On a $150 service call the difference between a card and a bank transfer is a few dollars. On a $4,000 water heater install, a panel upgrade or a roof deposit, it’s real money, and it comes out of your margin, not the customer’s.

Those are Stripe’s own standard US rates: 2.9% + $0.30 for cards and 0.8%, capped at $5 for ACH bank debits. What you pay through FieldFlow is Stripe’s rate plus FieldFlow’s 0.3% platform fee on the payment, so 3.2% + $0.30 for a card and 1.1% or less for a bank transfer. The cap is most of the story: from about $625 up, Stripe’s part of the bank transfer fee stops rising while the card’s keeps going. (The 0.3% platform fee still applies to the whole amount, which is why the bank transfer is 1.1% or less, not a flat figure.)

What does it cost on a few real-sized jobs?

Here’s the saving from a bank transfer instead of a card, through FieldFlow (card 3.2% + $0.30, bank transfer 1.1% or less), rounded to the nearest $5:

Invoice	Saving by bank transfer
$1,000	about $25
$2,500	about $70
$4,000	about $110
$8,000	about $225

How do you get customers to pay by bank transfer?

You can’t make them, and you shouldn’t make it hard to pay by card. What works is making the cheaper option just as easy:

1. Put both on the same link. In FieldFlow, an invoice’s pay link offers card and, where your Stripe account supports it, bank transfer. The customer picks; nobody has to type a routing number into an email.
2. Say it once, on the big ones. “You can pay by card or straight from your bank on the link” is enough. Most people don’t know bank transfer is an option.
3. Use it for deposits. A deposit on a big estimate is exactly where the fee hurts most, and where the customer is already in a planning frame of mind. FieldFlow makes the deposit invoice the moment the estimate is signed, and the customer can pay it right there.
4. Keep cards for small tickets. For a service call, the card is faster and the fee is small. Don’t make a $120 customer think about ACH.

What about Venmo, Zelle and checks?

Plenty of customers prefer them. Fees depend on the service and on whether you use a business account, so check yours. The other catch is bookkeeping: the money lands somewhere other than your invoice. In FieldFlow, add your Venmo, PayPal or Zelle handle once and the invoice shows a code to scan; you then log the payment against the invoice in two taps, as you would for cash or a check, so the books still match.

Does the payment speed matter?

A card authorizes on the spot; Stripe says an ACH Direct Debit can take up to 4 business days to confirm. For a deposit or a final invoice on a big job, a few days rarely matters. For a customer you’re worried about, a card now beats a bank transfer later.

The short version

Offer both on every invoice, mention the bank transfer on the big ones, and let the customer choose. The payments page shows how the pay link works, and the pricing page lists every fee FieldFlow charges, including the 0.3% platform fee on online payments. FieldFlow itself is $19/month for the whole business, with a 90-day free trial and no card.

Questions owners ask

How much does Stripe charge for card and ACH payments?

Stripe's standard US rates are 2.9% + $0.30 for a card and 0.8%, capped at $5 for an ACH bank debit. FieldFlow adds a 0.3% platform fee on each online payment, so through FieldFlow a card costs 3.2% + $0.30 and a bank transfer 1.1% or less.

Should I pass the card fee on to the customer?

That's a pricing decision, and a surcharge comes with rules of its own, so check your payment processor's terms and your state's law before you add one. A simpler route is to make the cheaper option easy: put the bank transfer on the same pay link and mention it when you send big invoices.

How long does an ACH payment take?

Longer than a card. Stripe's documentation says an ACH Direct Debit can take up to 4 business days to confirm success or failure, where a card authorizes at once. For big jobs that's usually fine; for a small service call, a card is simpler for everyone.