Merchant Fee Calculator

Calculate your total cost of accepting payments — card, mobile money, cash, and bank transfers. See which payment mix minimizes your merchant fees across Africa.

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Merchant Fee Calculator

Payment Mix (must total 100%)
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Fee Rates
Total Monthly Payment Fees
Blended Fee Rate
Net Revenue (after fees)
Annual Fees Paid
Monthly Transactions

Fee Breakdown by Method

Optimizing your payment mix matters. Shifting 10% of volume from card (1.5% MDR) to mobile money (0.8%) on 2M/month volume saves 14,000/month = 168,000/year. Bank transfers are the cheapest per-naira/shilling but limited by customer banking access. Cash has hidden costs: counting, theft risk, bank deposit fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a merchant discount rate?
A Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) is the percentage of each card transaction that the merchant pays to the acquiring bank/payment processor. It bundles interchange fees (to card-issuing bank), scheme fees (Visa/Mastercard), and acquirer margin. In Nigeria, the CBN guidelines set MDR at 0.5% for debit card transactions at POS, though processors often bundle additional charges. International credit cards attract higher MDR (2.5-3.5%).
How can merchants reduce payment fees?
Strategies: (1) Negotiate enterprise rates at monthly volume > 1M, (2) Shift customers to cheaper payment methods — mobile money is cheaper than card for most amounts, (3) Use QR payments (0-0.5% vs 1.5% card), (4) For regular customers, offer bank transfer option (cheapest), (5) Bundle payment volumes across related businesses for better negotiating power, (6) Compare aggregators — startups often offer better rates than banks to gain market share.
Is cash really "free" for merchants?
No. Cash has hidden costs: time counting, risk of counterfeit notes (significant in Nigeria, Ghana), cash deposit bank fees (0.1-0.5% of deposited cash), security/theft risk, reconciliation errors. In Nigeria, ATM withdrawals can cost NGN 35-100 per transaction passing through to consumers. When you include all costs, cash typically runs 0.3-1% of volume — comparable to mobile money merchant fees.