Mallow's fee structure explained
Mallow uses Interchange+ pricing, which means you pay the actual wholesale cost of each transaction rather than a flat 3% fee. Your fees depend on how your customer pays—but they're consistently lower than industry-standard processing rates.
At a glance
Payment method | Typical fee |
|---|---|
Debit cards | 0.35% |
Credit cards | 1.30% – 2.95% |
ACH / EFT bank transfers | $0.20 flat |
Digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) | Same as the underlying card |
The average card fee across all Mallow customers is less than 2.2%.
Card fees: What you actually pay
Card fees vary based on the type of card your customer uses:
Debit cards cost around 0.35% because they carry lower risk and fewer perks for the cardholder.
Standard credit cards typically fall in the 1.30% – 2% range.
Rewards and premium cards (travel, cash-back, business platinum) trend toward the higher end of range, typically falling between 2% and 2.95% because interchange fees fund those customer perks.
Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay inherit the fee of the card stored inside them. If your customer uses a debit card via Apple Pay, you pay the 0.35% debit rate.
Bank transfers: The lowest-cost option
ACH (US) and EFT (Canada) bank transfers cost a flat $0.20 per transaction, regardless of the invoice amount. A $5,000 payment and a $50 payment both cost you $0.20.
Bank transfers are domestic-only: ACH only works for US-based bank accounts, and EFT only works for Canada-based bank accounts. You can't accept an ACH payment from a client in the UK, for example.
What Interchange+ means
Mallow uses Interchange+ pricing—sometimes called "cost plus" pricing. Instead of charging you a flat percentage on every transaction, you pay:
The interchange rate — the wholesale cost set by the card brand or the issuing bank. This varies by card type.
A small markup — 0.30% + $0.30 for to cover the payment processing costs.
This model is transparent: you see exactly what the card networks charged versus what the processor earned. It also means you benefit from lower rates on low-cost transactions (like debit cards) rather than paying an inflated flat rate across the board. Read more about Interchange+ pricing.
Subscription cost vs. processing fees
Mallow charges a flat $100/month subscription that includes invoices, payments, unlimited eSignatures, recurring billing, and white-labeled client portals. That subscription is separate from the processing fees above—there are no per-invoice fees, no per-signature fees, and no hidden surcharges.
No extra fees
Recurring invoices and subscriptions — No extra markup, billed through cards or ACH at the same rates listed above.
International payments — No extra markup, cards work internationally at the same interchange rates, though cross-border cards may carry slightly higher interchange set by the card networks.
Still have questions? Learn what interchange fees are and why they vary, or see all payment methods available in Mallow.