Payzium versus Square: what the statement actually shows.
Square wins on ease of setup and a friendly Reader for the smallest merchants. Payzium wins when the transaction volume is regular enough that a published margin costs less than a blended flat rate.
- In card processing since 2014
- Next-day funding
- Terminal included¹
- Posted pricing
Your volume, against Square.
$4,841
About $403 a month back in your business compared with Square, and $14,522 over three years.
How your price is built
At $40,000 a month in card sales
- Network costs (interchange and assessments), passed through at cost
- $639.62
- Payzium margin
- $72.00
- Payzium per-transaction fees
- $40.00
- Monthly account fee
- $5.00
- Your total a month
- $756.62
- Effective rate
- 1.89%
Estimate on Payzium's published US rate card and live US Visa and Mastercard interchange schedules, $50 average ticket. Competitor figures from each processor's published US rates. Final pricing depends on your actual card mix and current network rates.
Square: what the fees page publishes.
| Line | Rate |
|---|---|
| In-person card (tap, insert, swipe), Free plan | 2.6% + $0.15 [1] |
| Online and invoice, Free plan | 3.3% + $0.30 [2] |
| Manually keyed | 3.5% + $0.15 [3] |
| Custom pricing eligibility | Available above $250,000 per year in card sales [4] |
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Monthly account fee | $0 [5] |
| Setup fee | $0 [7] |
| Chargeback fee | $0 (dispute management included) [7] |
Square Reader (magstripe). First reader free; additional Square hardware sold outright (Reader $59, Stand $149, Terminal $299, Register $899 at time of verification). [6]
Sources.
- In-person card Free plan 2.6% plus $0.15. Verified 2026-10-27. https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees
- Online and invoice Free plan 3.3% plus $0.30. Verified 2026-10-27. https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees
- Manually keyed 3.5% plus $0.15. Verified 2026-10-27. https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees
- Custom pricing above $250,000 per year. Verified 2026-10-27. https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees
- Square Free plan $0 per month per location. Verified 2026-10-27. https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees
- Hardware prices (Reader, Stand, Terminal, Register 2nd generation); first magstripe reader free. Verified 2026-10-27. https://squareup.com/us/en/hardware
- No activation fee, no chargeback or dispute-management fee, no early-termination fee. Verified 2026-10-27. https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5068-what-are-square-s-fees
Square contract candor.
- Square publishes no cancellation fee.
- Square publishes no long-term contract for its standard plan.
- Blended rate is simple; the tradeoff is that a merchant paying 2.6% + $0.15 on a card whose interchange is 1.65% + $0.10 is quietly paying Square about 0.95% + $0.05 above interchange on every sale.
Where Square wins.
- The simplest possible sign-up for a new merchant.
- The Reader hardware and Square Point of Sale app are excellent at the very small end.
- The chargeback dispute-management workflow is unusually merchant-friendly.
Where Payzium wins.
- Once a merchant is running $10,000+ per month in card volume, an interchange-plus margin published on the page will nearly always beat 2.6 percent blended.
- Payzium's rate card is public on the pricing page; the same tier applies to every merchant in that band.
- Payzium's dual pricing program lets the merchant post a cash and a card price to cover eligible card acceptance costs.
Worked example.
Payzium all-in effective rate on this fixture
1.89%
This is the same rate shown across the site. See the full monthly breakdown on the calculator.
FAQ.
Isn't Square's rate simpler?
Simpler on the page, yes. On the statement, Square blends every card into one rate. For merchants whose card mix skews to lower-interchange cards, the blended rate is a premium the merchant pays every month.
Do I have to switch off Square all at once?
No. Payzium runs Program A (interchange-plus) or Program B (dual pricing) with the terminal included on Payzium account; the merchant continues to use its counter hardware while boarding runs.
Ready to see the numbers on your business?
Run your monthly volume through the calculator and see the exact all-in figure your Payzium account would carry.