Processing Fees: Let's Cut Through the Confusion

We'll be straight with you — payment processing fees are genuinely complicated. Every card network, every bank, every payment provider has their own pricing, and none of them make it easy to understand. We don't think that's fair, so here's everything laid out as clearly as we can.

Like every donation platform, we can't absorb the fees that payment providers charge to actually move money. What we can do is be completely upfront about what those fees are — no hidden extras, no nasty surprises.

First things first: are you on a Pro or Starter account?

That's the key question, because the two work quite differently.

Pro Accounts — 0% platform fee

Good news if you're on a Pro account (or any legacy account created before April 2026): we don't add anything on top of your processing fees. Your rates are set directly by Stripe, GoCardless or Mollie — check their websites or your contract for the latest pricing. We only charge the flat per-transaction fee in your agreement and/or monthly fee, nothing more.

As a rough guide (always check your provider's current rates):

• Stripe — typically around 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards
• GoCardless — typically around 1% + 20p for UK Direct Debit

Starter Accounts — your total fees, all in one place

Starter accounts use Stripe or Mollie for payment processing. GoCardless (for Direct Debit) is available on Pro accounts only.

With Starter accounts, your total fee is made up of two parts:

• Our platform fee — our margin that keeps the platform running.
• The payment processing fee — this goes straight to the payment provider for handling the transaction itself.

The rates in the tables below are the total end rates you'll actually see.

That means our platform fee, the payment processing fee, and UK VAT where applicable are all already included. No maths required — the % and pence shown is what comes off each donation.

Stripe

Two things to know before reading the Stripe tables below:

• UK rates include VAT. As a UK-registered business, we're required to charge 20% VAT on our platform fee when you're a UK merchant. That's why UK rates look a touch higher than EU ones — the EU rates don't attract UK VAT.
• Recurring payments cost an extra 0.7%. Monthly donations and subscriptions run through Stripe Billing, which handles the subscription infrastructure — card updates, failed payment retries, dunning and so on. Stripe charges us 0.7% extra for that, which we pass through at cost.

UK domestic cards (GBP)

Card type	One-off payment	Recurring payment
Standard consumer cards	5.10% + 20p	5.80% + 20p
Premium cards (rewards, business, corporate)	5.50% + 20p	6.20% + 20p

EU/EEA domestic cards (EUR)

Card type	One-off payment	Recurring payment
Standard consumer cards	4.50% + €0.25	5.20% + €0.25
Premium cards (rewards, business, corporate)	4.90% + €0.25	5.60% + €0.25

▸Which countries count as EU/EEA?

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

Everything else

International cards (issued outside the UK or EU/EEA) and any other card type not listed above fall into the blended default rate:

Payment type	Total end rate
International cards & other methods (blended)	6.25% + £0.25

Mollie

Payment type	Total end rate
Mastercard Credit Domestic Consumer	4.80% + 20p
Mastercard Debit Domestic Consumer	4.40% + 20p
Mastercard Credit European Consumer	5.90% + 20p
Mastercard Debit European Consumer	5.90% + 20p
Mastercard Credit International Consumer	6.25% + 20p
Mastercard Debit International Consumer	6.25% + 20p
Mastercard Credit Domestic Business	5.90% + 20p
Mastercard Debit Domestic Business	5.90% + 20p
Mastercard Credit European Business	5.90% + 20p
Mastercard Debit European Business	5.90% + 20p
Mastercard Credit International Business	6.25% + 20p
Mastercard Debit International Business	6.25% + 20p
Visa Credit Domestic Consumer	4.40% + 20p
Visa Debit Domestic Consumer	4.40% + 20p
Visa Credit European Consumer	5.90% + 20p
Visa Debit European Consumer	5.90% + 20p
Visa Credit International Consumer	6.25% + 20p
Visa Debit International Consumer	6.25% + 20p
Visa Credit Domestic Business	5.90% + 20p
Visa Debit Domestic Business	5.90% + 20p
Visa Credit European Business	5.90% + 20p
Visa Debit European Business	5.90% + 20p
Visa Credit International Business	6.25% + 20p
Visa Debit International Business	6.25% + 20p
American Express Domestic	5.50% + 20p
American Express European	5.60% + 20p
American Express International	5.60% + 20p
Cartes Bancaire Commercial Card	5.90% + 20p
Cartes Bancaire Consumer Card	4.20% + 20p

Note: there may be other specific payment types not covered in this summary. For Euro connected accounts in Mollie our fee is the flat 3% above what Mollie charge as standard. If in doubt, please contact us to find out the exact cost. These fees are subject to change.