Effective rate calculator
Two numbers off your statement give you one figure that includes every fee: what you pay, as a percentage of what you sell.
Your effective rate
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- Fees paid —
- Card sales —
- Cost per $100 sold —
Enter your numbers
The result, and what it includes, appears here once fees and card sales are in the boxes.
Worked out in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
How the maths works
One line of arithmetic:
Total fees ÷ total card sales × 100 = your effective rate.
Why quoted rates and effective rates differ
Say, as an illustration, one provider quotes 1.99% and another quotes 2.45%. If the first adds a monthly statement fee, a PCI fee, a gateway fee and terminal rental, and the second does not, the first can come to more in total. The effective rate includes all of those fees.
Some statements show an effective rate already. TD's sample statements, for example, show one for each card brand. TD's guide says it counts "all fees for each card type", such as the credit or debit rate, assessment fees and per-sale fees. Monthly account fees and equipment rental are listed separately, so add those in for a total. See How to Read Your Merchant Statement.
Your effective rate also moves when card network rates change. For example, Visa's sheet lists its Small Merchant in-person rate for a Classic card at 0.77%; TD's Fee Change Summary says it went to 0.70% on October 22, 2026, for eligible merchants.
Why there is no verdict
This tool shows your number and what goes into it. It does not say whether the number is high or low, because that depends on your industry, card mix and average sale, and we do not publish benchmarks we cannot source. Want a partner to review your statement? We will put you in touch.
What moves the number
- Small average sale? Per-sale fees of a few cents become a big percentage. A coffee shop usually has a higher effective rate than a furniture store.
- Selling online? Card-not-present sales cost more than tapped ones, because the card networks price them for a higher risk of fraud.
- Quiet month? Fixed monthly fees spread over less volume push your effective rate up. A typical month gives a more representative number.
Sources
Common questions
What is an effective rate?
Everything you paid your processor in a month, divided by everything you sold on cards that month. It rolls the rate, the per-sale fees and every fixed charge into one number.
Why does it matter more than the rate I was quoted?
Because the quoted rate only covers part of the bill. A low headline rate with a long list of monthly fees can cost more than a plain, slightly higher rate. The effective rate is the only figure that captures all of it.
Which number on my statement is total fees?
It is usually a line near the bottom such as "total fees", "total charges" or "amount deducted". Where a processor deducts fees daily instead of monthly, the total is the sum of those deductions for the month.
What counts as card volume?
The total value of card sales you processed that month, before any fees came off. It is usually shown as "total sales", "gross volume" or "amount submitted".
Why do effective rates differ between businesses?
Average sale size, card mix and sales channel all change the number. A fixed per-sale fee is a smaller share of a large sale than of a small one. Card mix matters too: on Visa Canada's rate sheet, an in-person sale costs 1.25% in interchange on a Classic card and 2.08% on an Infinite Privilege card.
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