Card vs Bitcoin Payment Fee Calculator
Compare typical US card-processing fees against bitcoin payment fees on your monthly volume and transaction count.
Savings with bitcoin: $220/month ($2,640/year).
This compares processing fees only. It assumes the bitcoin you receive is converted to USD at settlement; if you hold it instead, you take on price volatility and IRS property/capital-gains bookkeeping this calculator doesn't model.
How it works
Enter your monthly card volume, how many transactions that volume splits into, and the fee structure on each side. The card side takes a percentage of volume plus a flat fee per transaction, which is how most US card processors (think Stripe, Square, and similar) actually price things. The bitcoin side, in this calculator, is a flat percentage with no per-transaction fee, since most bitcoin payment processors price that way. The tool adds up both totals and shows the monthly and annual difference.
Worked example: a shop doing $10,000 a month in card volume across 100 transactions, paying the common US rate of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, pays $320 a month in card fees (2.9% of $10,000 is $290, plus 100 times $0.30 is $30). The same $10,000 in volume through a bitcoin processor charging 1% costs $100. That's $220 saved per month, or $2,640 a year, before you factor in anything else about how bitcoin payments fit your business.
FAQ
Are these the actual rates I'll get?
The defaults (2.9% plus $0.30 for card, 1% for bitcoin) are common starting rates in the US, but your real rates depend on your processor, your volume, your industry, and whether you negotiate. Swap in the numbers from your actual merchant statement and your bitcoin processor's quote for a figure that means something for your business.
Why doesn't the bitcoin side have a per-transaction fee?
Most bitcoin payment processors price as a flat percentage of the amount, not a fixed fee per transaction, so that field is left out on that side. If your processor quotes it differently, you can approximate by folding a small flat cost into the percentage, or just treat the calculator's bitcoin total as a starting estimate.
Does this account for keeping the bitcoin instead of converting it?
No. The savings shown here assume you auto-convert to USD at settlement, which is what most US merchants do to avoid holding a volatile asset. If you hold bitcoin instead, you take on price risk, and the IRS treats it as property, meaning you'll need to track cost basis and gains separately from whatever this calculator shows.
What about chargebacks?
Card fees already reflect the cost of a system that allows chargebacks; bitcoin transactions, once confirmed, don't work that way, so there's no chargeback fee to add on the bitcoin side. That's a real operational difference beyond just the percentage, worth reading up on before you switch a large share of volume over.
For more on choosing a processor and understanding what changes with bitcoin payments, see the best bitcoin payment processors for US businesses, the honest pros and cons of accepting bitcoin, and how auto-converting bitcoin to USD works.