The fastest way to get an invoice paid is a card payment link - and on large invoices it is also the most expensive, because card fees are percentages and your invoice size is not their business model's problem. The working rule: below roughly a thousand dollars, take the card link and its convenience; above it, offer a bank transfer as the primary option and keep the card link as the impatient client's alternative. Here is the math from published price lists, checked July 23-24, 2026.
The rails and their published prices
- Invoicing software fees come first, and they are small. Stripe's invoicing product, for example, charges 0.4% per paid invoice on its starter plan (0.5% on the higher tier), with no fixed fees - and its page is explicit that standard payment processing applies on top. The invoicing layer is cheap; the payment rail underneath is where the money goes.
- Card processing is a percentage of everything. Standard card rates in the US run on the order of 3% plus a fixed few cents (PayPal's published US checkout rate is 3.49% + $0.49, plus 1.50% more for international payments and a 3-4% spread if it converts currency). Card rails scale their fee with your invoice, not with their cost.
- Bank transfers are flat or free. A domestic transfer to your account details typically costs the payer little or nothing and costs you nothing. For international clients, receiving through local account details (the Wise/Payoneer model we compared previously) is free in major currencies, with conversion from 0.57% when you choose to convert.
The worked math
Our arithmetic at two invoice sizes, using the published rates above (card ≈ 3.5% + $0.49 + 0.4% invoicing; transfer ≈ $0 domestic, ~0.6% conversion if international):
| Invoice | Card payment link | Domestic bank transfer | Local-details + conversion (international) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | ~$20 | ~$0 | ~$3 |
| $5,000 | ~$195 | ~$0 | ~$30 |
At $500, twenty dollars buys instant payment and zero friction - frequently worth it, since as the late-payment data showed, ease and immediacy of payment correlate strongly with actually getting paid. At $5,000, the same convenience costs $195 - roughly two billable hours donated to the card networks - and a professional client with an accounts process loses nothing by paying a transfer. The fee didn't grow because collection got harder; only your invoice grew.
The pattern that captures both: offer two rails
- Every invoice lists bank transfer details first - domestic details for domestic clients, your local-currency account details for foreign ones - stated as the standard payment method, net of no surcharge.
- The card link rides along as the convenience option. Some clients will always click it; on small invoices you want them to. Where surcharging is lawful and contractually clean in your jurisdiction, large invoices can price the card option accordingly - but check your local rules and card-network terms before surcharging anything; where it isn't allowed, the price of card convenience simply belongs inside your rates, which is one more input to pricing the engagement properly in the first place.
- Deposits go by transfer. The deposit is agreed before work starts, when your leverage is highest and urgency is lowest - the perfect moment for the free rail.
What not to over-optimize
Two honest counterweights. First, a rail that delays payment can cost more than its fee savings: an unpaid $5,000 invoice aging 45 days has costs a card fee never has. If a particular client only pays promptly by card, that $195 is cheap. Second, chasing exotic low-fee rails adds reconciliation overhead and confusion; two well-chosen rails beat five clever ones.
Limitations
Rates cited are from the providers' published US pages, opened July 23-24, 2026; card pricing varies by country, card type and negotiated terms, and our table's card figure is an illustrative blend of the published rates, not a quote. ACH, SEPA and other bank rails carry small fees in some setups. Surcharge legality varies by jurisdiction and network rules. For cross-border specifics - where fees stack in more layers - see the full international comparison.
The bottom line
Card links are a service you buy with a percentage of every invoice. Buy it deliberately: default to it under about a thousand dollars, default to bank transfer above, print both on every invoice, and move deposits through the free rail. On a year of large invoices, this one habit quietly returns a week's revenue.
Discussion
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