Yes, Irish solicitors can take card payments for their fees, provided the money is handled as the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 require, which means money received for professional fees and outlay goes into client account or office account without delay. You can't add a surcharge when a private client pays with a consumer debit or credit card, though commercial cards are outside that ban and any charge on them is limited to your direct cost. A card payment service collects fees and isn't a client account.
In this article
The short version
- Solicitors can take card payments for bills already issued.
- Fee money goes into client or office account without delay.
- Surcharges on consumer debit and credit cards are banned.
- Commercial cards are outside the ban, but charges can't exceed direct cost.
- A card payment service isn't a client account.
What the accounts rules mean for card payments
The Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 (S.I. 118 of 2023) took effect on 1 July 2023. Their rules on fees are framed around the money a firm receives, so with a card payment the useful thing to establish is the purpose of the money.
Payment of a bill you've already issued for fees and outlay is the straightforward case. The Regulations require that money to go into client account or office account without delay, and if it goes into client account it then has to move to office account as the Regulations set out. A card payment that settles a fee bill fits that pattern, as long as it reaches the right account promptly.
Money paid to you to hold for a client is different. Client money belongs in client account, and it can only be applied to your fees once that's been made clear to the client in writing, for example in a bill of costs. Whether a payment made before you've billed counts as client money is a question for your accountant, and since a card payment service isn't a client account, it's best kept to bills already issued.
If you're unsure which side of that line a payment falls, check with your accountant before you send the client a card payment link for it.
What card payments cost a firm
EU rules cap the interchange fee on consumer cards at 0.2% of the transaction for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. Commercial cards, meaning cards issued to businesses or the self-employed for business expenses and charged to the business's own account, are outside those caps.
The price you pay is set by your payment provider, and it varies by the kind of card. Stripe's Irish pricing, for example, is 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European Economic Area cards, 2.5% + €0.25 for UK cards and 3.15% + €0.25 for international cards. If your clients include businesses or people overseas, the mix of cards they use can move your average cost.
With Adfin, the standard card price is 20c + 1% per successful payment, and card payments aren't capped. Clients can also pay by SEPA direct debit or bank transfer, where the 1% part is capped at €2. On a €1,200 bill, that comes to €12.20 at the standard card price, or €2.20 if the client pays the same bill by direct debit or bank transfer. There's no monthly fee, setup fee or contract, and you only pay when a payment succeeds.
Surcharges and passing on the cost
Under Regulation 86 of the European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 6 of 2018), you can't charge a client extra for paying with a card whose interchange fees are capped. In practice, that covers consumer debit and credit cards.
The ban doesn't extend to commercial cards. If a business client pays with one and you decide to add a charge, it can't exceed the direct cost you bear for accepting that card, and you have to tell the client about the charge before the payment starts. Take advice before you set up any charge of this kind.
A payment provider can't prevent you from offering a reduction for paying another way, or from steering clients towards a particular payment method. If you do offer a reduction, you have to tell the client about it before the payment starts, just as you would with a charge.
A checklist before you switch on card payments
Work through these points with your partners and your accountant before the first card payment link goes out.
- Confirm that card payments will only be used for bills already issued for fees and outlay.
- Decide which account card payments will reach, and how quickly they'll be moved if they land in client account.
- Check what your provider charges for standard, premium, UK and international cards, and whether it charges for disputes.
- Check whether there's a monthly fee, a setup fee or a minimum contract.
- Make sure nothing in your setup adds a surcharge on consumer cards.
- Decide how a client will receive the link, whether by email, SMS or WhatsApp, and put it on the bill itself.
- Check that card payments will be marked paid in your accounting software, so your aged debtors report stays accurate.
- Record the decision and the reasoning in your accounts procedures.
On point 7, Adfin is a certified app for Xero and QuickBooks with two-way sync, so a bill paid by card through an Adfin payment link is marked paid in Xero or QuickBooks automatically. It works alongside your practice management software rather than replacing it.
Common questions
Can a solicitor accept credit card payments for legal fees? Yes, and under the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 money received for professional fees and outlay goes into client account or office account without delay, so card payments are simplest to manage for bills you've already issued.
Can a solicitor charge a fee for paying by card? Not on consumer debit or credit cards, where surcharging is banned under Regulation 86 of S.I. 6 of 2018. A business client paying with a commercial card falls outside the ban, though any fee you add is limited to what the card actually costs you.
Can a client pay money on account by card? Money held for a client is client money and belongs in client account. Take advice from your accountant before accepting it through any card payment service.
What does it cost a law firm to take card payments in Ireland? It depends on the provider and the card type. Stripe's Irish pricing is 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European Economic Area cards and 3.15% + €0.25 for international cards, for example.
Are business cards covered by the surcharging ban? No, commercial cards issued to businesses for business expenses are outside the ban and outside the EU interchange caps. Any charge still can't exceed your direct cost, and you must tell the client before they pay.
Is a card payment service a client account? No, a card payment service collects payment of bills and isn't a client account. Adfin, for example, isn't a client account and doesn't make a firm compliant with the Regulations.
Sources
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 118/2023, Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2023/si/118/made/en/print
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 6/2018, European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/si/6/made/en/print
- Oireachtas - Dáil written answer on card surcharging, 6 March 2018 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2018-03-06/50/
- EUR-Lex - Regulation (EU) 2015/751 on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions (accurate as of November 2026) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32015R0751
- Stripe - Pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/pricing
