Quickly Compare 7 Popular and Safe Payment Gateways

Fees and Charges
Fee for domestic / Australian customers	Square: 1.9% for tapped , inserted or swiped card payments. 2.2% for keyed-in card payment	Stripe: 1.75% + 30¢ per transaction	PayPal: 2.6% + 30¢ to 1.1% + 30¢ per transaction	PP: 1.75% + 30¢per transaction	Shopify: 1.75% + 30¢ to 1.4% + 30¢ per transaction	eway: 1.5% + 25c	SecurePay: 2.4% (Visa & Mastercard)
Fee for international / other currency customers	Square: Same as domestic / AUS fees	Stripe: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction (includes domestic AMEX)	PayPal: 3.6% + fixed fee to 2.1% + fixed fee per transaction	PP: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction	Shopify: 2.9% + 30¢ to 2.7% + 30¢ per transaction (includes domestic AMEX)	eway: 1.5% + 25c	SecurePay: Unknown
Disputed chargeback fee	Square: Unknown	Stripe: $25	PayPal: $15	PP: $25	Shopify: $25	eway: Unknown	SecurePay: $25
Refund fees	Square: None	Stripe: None	PayPal: 30¢	PP: None	Shopify: None	eway: Unknown	SecurePay: Unknown
International payment fees	Square: None	Stripe: None	PayPal: 4% above exchange rate	PP: None	Shopify: None	eway: None	SecurePay: Unknown
Face-to-Face POS	Square: Yes	Stripe: No	PayPal: Yes	PP: Yes	Shopify: Yes	eway: Yes	SecurePay: No
Recurring billing	Square: Yes	Stripe: Yes	PayPal: Yes	PP: Yes	Shopify: Yes – Via third-party app	eway: Yes	SecurePay: Yes

Fees for taking payments

Let’s start by exploring the fees that the payment gateways charge. They’re all based on a “per transaction” model – i.e. how much they charge each time a customer buys from you. The model is generally a fixed percentage of the full transaction amount (e.g. 2.9%), plus an additional fee (e.g. 30¢).

Square payment fees

For domestic or international cards: 1.9% for tapped, inserted or swiped card payments. 2.2% for keyed-in card payment
More information on Square plans and payment fees for Australia here.
Read our full review of Square.

Stripe payment fees

For domestic cards: 1.75% + 30¢ per transaction.
For international and AMEX cards: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
More information on Stripe payments in Australia here.

Shopify payment fees

For domestic cards: Between 1.4% + 30¢ and 1.75% + 30¢ per transaction, depending on Shopify plan.
For international and AMEX cards: Between 2.7 and 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction, depending on Shopify plan.
More information on Shopify plans and payment fees for Australia here.

Shopify also charges a monthly fee of between $29 and $299 for their full service eCommerce stores. You will need an active Shopify eCommerce store to use Shopify payments.

PayPal payment fees

For Australian customers: Between 2.6% + 30¢ and 1.1% + 30¢ per transaction, depending on the total value of transactions in a month.
For international customers: Between 3.6% + fixed fee* and 2.1% + fixed fee* per transaction, depending on the total value of transactions in a month.
More information on PayPal fees and discounts for Australia here.
Read our full review of PayPal as a payment gateway here.

*The fixed fee for PayPal international payments depends on the currency that your customer is paying with.

Pin Payments fees

For domestic cards: 1.75% + 30¢ per transaction.
For international cards: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
More information on Pin Payments fees in Australia here.

eway payments fees

For international cards: 1.5% + 25¢ per transaction.
Domestic cards: 1.5% + 25¢ per transaction
More information on Eway payments fees here.

SecurePay payments fees

For domestic Mastercard and Visa cards: 2.4% per transaction.
For domestic AMEX: The same rate you have agreed with AMEX
For Discover cards: SecurePay does not charge anything extra
For international cards: No rates listed.

Fees for chargebacks

Chargebacks happen when a customer “disputes” a transaction (e.g. they claim they never made the payment or didn’t receive the item.) If a payment is successfully disputed, a payment gateway will raise an additional charge to you.

Stripe chargebacks will cost $25 per successfully disputed payment.
PayPal chargebacks will cost $15 per successfully disputed payment.
Shopify chargebacks will cost $25 per successfully disputed payment.
Pin Payments chargebacks will cost $25 per successfully disputed payment.
securePay chargebacks will cost $25 per successfully disputed payment.
Eway does not list chargeback fees.

Fees for refunds

There will be times when you need to voluntarily refund a customer. This is how the payment processors handle refunds:

Stripe will refund your transaction percentage fee and fixed fee when you refund.
Shopify will refund your transaction percentage fee and fixed fee when you refund.
PayPal will refund your transaction percentage fee but not your fixed fee when you refund.
Pin Payments will refund your transaction with no additional fees.
It’s not clear how Eway handles refunding transaction charges.
It’s not clear how securePay handles refunding transaction charges.

International payment fees

If you’re selling internationally and taking payment in different currencies, you should know how the payment gateways charge for that.

Stripe doesn’t charge anything extra for international payments.
Shopify doesn’t charge anything extra for international payments.
Pin Payments doesn’t charge anything extra for international payments.
Eway doesn’t charge anything extra for international payments.
It’s not clear how securePay handles international payments.
PayPal will charge you 4% above the current exchange rates to convert funds to Australian dollars.

Benefits and features

It’s not all about the costs and fees – Here are some of the additional benefits and features of each payment provider.

Mobile payments – All of the payment processors integrate with mobile, tablet and smartphone devices to let customers make payment wherever they are.
Point of Sale (POS) – PayPal, Shopify, Eway, and Pin Payments all provide card readers that you can use to take payment face-to-face with your customer. Stripe and securePay do not offer POS devices.
Recurring and subscription billing – PayPal, Stripe, Eway, securePay, and Pin Payments all provide recurring billing as standard. You can get recurring billing through Shopify but you’ll need to use a third-party app from their marketplace
Fraud protection – All the providers offer fraud protection as standard.

As you can see, there are lots of areas to consider when choosing the right payment provider for your Australian business. Here’s a link to the features and benefits pages of the various payment gateways, so you can make an informed choice.