Card payments taken online or through an invoice link are usually priced as a percentage of each payment plus a fixed amount, with no cap, so the fee grows with the payment. Stripe lists 1.5% + €0.25 for a standard European card and more for UK and international cards, and Adfin's standard card price is 20c + 1%. Dispute fees, invoicing add-ons and currency conversion can sit on top.
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The short version
- Card fees are usually a percentage plus a fixed amount, with no cap.
- Stripe lists 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European cards and more for UK cards.
- Adfin's standard card price is 20c + 1% per successful payment.
- Disputes, invoicing add-ons and currency conversion can add to the cost.
- Surcharging consumer card payments is banned in Ireland.
What sits inside a card fee
Providers publish one price per card payment, and EU law limits one of the fees beneath it. It caps the interchange fee on consumer cards at 0.2% of the payment for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. Commercial cards, issued to businesses for business expenses, fall outside those caps.
Beyond that, prices vary by provider and by the type of card. Stripe's Irish pricing lists 1.5% + €0.25 for standard cards issued in the European Economic Area, 2.5% + €0.25 for UK cards and 3.15% + €0.25 for international cards, with 2% more where a currency has to be converted. So the same €480 payment costs €7.45 on a standard European card and €15.37 on an international one.
Card fees at five payment sizes
The table puts two published prices side by side for standard cards. The middle column adds Stripe Invoicing's Starter fee of 0.4% per paid invoice, which applies if you send the invoice through Stripe as well as take the payment.
| Payment | Stripe, standard EEA card | Stripe with Invoicing Starter | Adfin, standard card |
|---|---|---|---|
| €30 | €0.70 | €0.82 | €0.50 |
| €150 | €2.50 | €3.10 | €1.70 |
| €480 | €7.45 | €9.37 | €5.00 |
| €1,200 | €18.25 | €23.05 | €12.20 |
| €2,000 | €30.25 | €38.25 | €20.20 |
Because none of these card prices has a ceiling, a €2,000 payment costs a little over nine times as much to accept as a €200 one at each of them. Adfin doesn't charge a monthly or setup fee or ask for a contract, and its Essential credit control, including unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, is free under a fair use policy.
A month of card payments for one business
Take an IT support firm that bills 120 small customers €150 a month each and sends every invoice with a payment link. That's €18,000 a month by card.
- At Stripe's standard European card price, 120 payments cost €300 (€2.50 each). If the invoices also go through Stripe Invoicing Starter, add €72, for €372.
- If ten of those customers pay with UK cards, each of their payments costs €4.00 instead of €2.50, which adds €15.
- One disputed card payment in the month adds Stripe's €20 dispute fee.
- At Adfin's standard card price, 120 standard card payments of €150 cost €204 (€1.70 each).
On standard card fees alone, €300 against €204 is a difference of €96 a month, or €1,152 over a year, before any invoicing add-on. Your own figures will depend on how many customers pay by card, what kind of card they use and how often payments are disputed, so run the sum on last month's actual payments.
Ways to keep card costs down
The biggest saving usually comes from moving regular, larger payments off cards. A customer paying €1,200 every month by standard card through Adfin costs you €12.20 each time. Collected by SEPA direct debit instead, it costs €2.20, because the 1% part is capped at €2 on direct debit and bank transfer, though not on cards. Across a year that's €146.40 against €26.40 for the same customer.
Passing the fee on to customers is tightly limited in Ireland, because Regulation 86 of the European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 6 of 2018) bans surcharging consumer card payments, so you can't add a card fee for individual customers. Commercial cards are outside that ban, but any charge can't go above your direct cost of accepting the card, and you have to tell the payer before the payment starts.
Finally, look past the headline rate. Invoicing add-ons, dispute fees and currency conversion are all charged per payment, and they're easy to miss when comparing providers on one percentage.
Common questions
Are card fees capped in Ireland? EU law caps the interchange fee on consumer cards at 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for credit. The price you pay is set by your provider, and commercial cards are outside the caps.
Can I pass card fees on to my customers in Ireland? You can't surcharge consumers for paying by card. For commercial cards a charge is allowed, but it can't exceed your direct cost and you must tell the customer before they pay.
Do UK cards cost more to accept in Ireland? Stripe charges more for them, listing 2.5% + €0.25 for UK cards on its Irish pricing page against 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European cards.
How much does Stripe charge when a card payment is disputed? Stripe's Irish pricing lists €20 for a dispute received, and the same amount if the dispute is countered or appealed.
What does Adfin charge for card payments? Adfin's standard card price is 20c + 1% per successful payment, with no cap on cards. You don't pay a monthly or setup fee, and you're not tied to a contract.
Are business credit cards more expensive to accept? Commercial cards issued to businesses fall outside the EU interchange caps, so they can cost more. Check your provider's price for them rather than assuming the standard rate applies.
Sources
- Stripe - Pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/pricing
- Stripe - Invoicing pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/invoicing/pricing
- 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
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 6 of 2018, European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/si/6/made/en/print
- Houses of the Oireachtas - Dáil written answer on card surcharges, 6 March 2018 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2018-03-06/50/
