What Are Merchant Services and How Much Do You Keep From a $100 Card Sale?

Merchant services are the accounts and tools a business needs to accept card payments. That means a merchant account to hold the money, a payment processor to move it, and a reader, terminal or link the customer pays on.

For a small business, fees usually take 1.5% to 3.5% of each sale. On a $100 sale, that means you keep about $96.50 to $98.50.
Below, we go over what you are actually buying, whether you can skip it, which equipment you need, and where the money goes on a $100 sale. To keep the math real, we use Kurv's published rates, checked in November 2026, as our main example and compare them with Square, Stax and other providers along the way.

Key takeaways

• Take-home on $100. On a $100 card sale, a small business typically keeps $96.50 to $98.50. For example, at Kurv's in-person flat rate of 2.50% + $0.10, you keep $97.40. On Square's free plan (2.6% + $0.15), you would keep $97.25.
• Typical fees. Card fees usually run 1.5% to 3.5% of each sale, according to NerdWallet. In our examples, debit cards cost the least and card numbers typed in over the phone cost the most.
• Can you skip it? Yes, if almost all your customers pay with cash, checks or bank transfers. If customers ask to pay by card, you can start with no hardware by using the Tap to Pay feature on a recent phone. Square, PayPal and many merchant account providers offer it.
• Equipment. Payment links, invoices and QR codes also work without a reader. A handheld or countertop terminal costs roughly $200 to $400 to buy, or you can rent one monthly.
• Deposit timing. Money usually reaches your bank by the next business day, and providers such as Paysafe advertise deposits that fast. Ask any provider you compare for its standard deposit time.

What are merchant services?

Merchant services are the hardware, software and accounts that let you take card payments in person, online or over the phone. You will also hear them called payment processing or credit card processing. In practice they mean the same thing.

Three pieces make it work:

• A merchant account. The account your card sales land in before the money is sent to your business bank account.
• A payment processor. The company that sends each payment to the card network and the customer's bank for approval, then collects the money for you.
• Equipment or software. What the customer pays on: a card reader, a terminal, a phone with Tap to Pay, or a payment link.

One company usually sells all three together. That company is your merchant services provider. Kurv, for example, provides all three: a merchant account, payment processing, and ways to get paid from Tap to Pay to countertop terminals. Square and Clover sell similar bundles.

What do merchant services mean for a small business?

Short answer: you pay a small fee on every card sale, and in return almost any customer can pay you. Four things matter day to day:

• Fees. You pay a small cut of every sale. A plan with one flat rate and no monthly fee is the easiest to forecast. Kurv's, for example, is 2.50% + $0.10 for in-person payments, a little below the 2.6% + $0.15 on Square's free plan.
• Deposit speed. Money usually reaches your bank the next business day. Paysafe, for example, advertises next-day funding. Ask any provider you are looking at.
• Disputes. A chargeback is when a customer disputes a payment with their bank. Providers charge $20 to $100 per dispute, per NerdWallet.
• Security rules. PCI compliance is the card industry's security standard, and most providers ask you to complete a short checklist. Some charge a non-compliance fee until you finish it.

For example, Kurv puts all four in one place. Its flat rate comes with no monthly, setup or statement fee, deposits land by the next business day, and its support line answers 24/7/365 if a payment or dispute needs sorting out.

Do I need my own merchant account?

There are two ways to get set up. All-in-one providers like Square, Stripe and PayPal let you sign up in minutes and process payments under their own account. They generally let you leave month to month.

Providers that set you up with your own merchant account, like Kurv or PaymentCloud, review your application first (this is called underwriting) and ask you to sign a merchant agreement. Kurv's is a 24-month contract that renews automatically. Square, by comparison, charges no early termination fee. In return you get a quote based on your business and a 24/7 support line.

Neither route is better for everyone. The first is quicker to start. The second can give you more room on pricing and a person to call. Read the contract either way.

Can I run a small business without merchant services?

Yes. Cash, checks, bank transfers and apps like Zelle and Venmo all work, and plenty of small businesses run on them. For a one-person service with a handful of regular customers, that can be the right call.

The catch is who you lose. Most people pay by card now. In 2025, about two in three US consumer payments were made by card and only about one in seven in cash, according to Pew's analysis of Federal Reserve data. If you cannot take one, some customers will pay a competitor who can, and others will ask for an invoice you then have to chase.

A simple test:

• You can probably skip it if almost all your customers pay cash or Venmo, your jobs are small, and you rarely send invoices.
• You should probably add it if customers ask whether you take cards, your jobs run past a couple of hundred dollars, or you take deposits and work off-site.

Not sure? Start with no hardware. Tap to Pay turns the phone you already own into a card reader. Square, PayPal and many merchant account providers offer it.

What equipment do I need to accept credit cards?

It depends on where you take payments. Many businesses need no hardware at all.

Two things to check before you buy. First, free or low-cost equipment often comes with terms, so ask how long you are committed and what happens if you return it. Some providers charge several hundred dollars for rented equipment that is not returned.

Second, you only need a separate payment gateway if you sell online. A gateway connects your website checkout to the processor, and most providers include one.

See also credit card processing calculator

If I charge $100, how much money do I actually get?

On a $100 card sale you typically keep $96.50 to $98.50, because small-business card fees usually run 1.5% to 3.5%. In the examples below you keep between $96.85 and $99.14, depending on the card, how it is taken, and the pricing plan. Every card payment is split three ways:

• Interchange. Goes to the bank that issued the customer's card. It is the biggest part.
• Assessments. Small fees paid to the card networks. Visa and Mastercard take a small slice, well under a quarter of a percent, per Motley Fool.
• Processor markup. What your provider keeps.

Flat-rate plans bundle all three into one price. Interchange-plus plans show them separately and add a fixed markup. Every example below is a $100 sale. Published rates are for new accounts and subject to underwriting, so your quote may differ. The interchange-plus numbers are illustrative, because real interchange depends on the card.

Case study 1: A plumber takes a $100 callout fee with Tap to Pay

The customer taps their card on the plumber's phone. At Kurv's in-person rate of 2.50% + $0.10, the fee is $2.60, so the plumber keeps $97.40. On Square's free plan (2.6% + $0.15), the same tap would leave $97.25.

Case study 2: A bakery takes a $100 deposit over the phone

Typing in a card number counts as a keyed payment, and it costs more because card-not-present payments carry more fraud risk. Kurv's flat rate for keyed and online payments is 2.90% + $0.25. The fee comes to $3.15, so the bakery keeps $96.85. That is 55 cents less than if the customer had tapped their card in person. Square's free plan charges 3.5% + $0.15 for keyed payments, which would leave $96.35.

Case study 3: A coffee shop and the card the customer happens to use

On a flat rate, debit and credit cost the same, so the shop keeps $97.40 whichever card the customer taps. On interchange-plus, where you pay the card's actual interchange plus a fixed markup, the card matters. Kurv also offers interchange-plus, quoted after underwriting. Here is a $100 sale on interchange-plus with two different cards, using a 0.40% + $0.08 markup (the in-person markup Helcim publishes):

On a debit card, interchange-plus leaves $1.74 more in the shop's pocket than the flat rate. On a rewards credit card it saves only 8 cents. Interchange-plus pays off mostly when a lot of your customers use debit. If that sounds like your business, ask your provider for an interchange-plus quote alongside its flat rate. Stax offers a third model: a monthly subscription, starting at $99, with interchange passed through at cost.

One more option: customer-paid fees

Some providers let the customer cover card fees instead of you. Kurv lists Zero Cost Processing, where you pay 0% and the cardholder pays 3.95%. On a $100 sale the customer pays $103.95 at checkout and you keep $100. PaymentCloud offers a similar zero-cost program. Programs where the customer covers the fee come with rules that vary by card type and state, so ask how the provider handles them before you switch one on.

The $100 sale at a glance

Every row is a $100 sale. A flat rate is one price per sale: Kurv's 2.50% + $0.10 in person or 2.90% + $0.25 keyed. Interchange-plus means the card's actual interchange plus a fixed markup, and its numbers here are illustrative. Zero Cost Processing means the cardholder pays a 3.95% fee.

What that adds up to

Say you take 100 card sales of $100 in a month, or $10,000. On Kurv's in-person flat rate, you would pay $260 in fees, against $275 on Square's free plan. On interchange-plus (the card's actual cost plus a fixed markup), the bill depends on which cards your customers use: about $86 if everyone paid by debit, or about $252 if everyone used a rewards credit card.

A fixed 10 cents on every in-person sale, as in a 2.50% + $0.10 flat rate, matters more on small tickets. On a $10 sale, the fee is 35 cents.

Fees outside the per-sale rate are worth a look too. Kurv lists no monthly, setup, statement or PCI fee, while subscription providers like Stax charge a monthly fee instead, starting at $99. It does list a monthly minimum of $0 to $25 that applies only to idle accounts, and $25 per chargeback. Whoever quotes you, ask for the same list.

Conclusion

Merchant services are the tools you need to get paid by card: an account, a processor and something to tap or click. They usually cost 1.5% to 3.5% of each sale, so you typically keep $96.50 to $98.50 of a $100 sale.

If you are small and mostly paid in cash, you can skip them. If customers are asking to pay by card, start with the phone you already have, and add a terminal when you need a printed receipt, your own connection or a counter setup.

If you want to try it without buying anything, Kurv's Tap to Pay is free with a merchant account, and deposits arrive by the next business day, with support available 24/7. Ask for a quote, read the contract, and compare it with one other provider, such as Square or Stax, before you sign.

A note on our numbers: Kurv's figures come from its pricing page, checked in November 2026. Other providers' rates and features come from their own websites, checked the same month. Fee ranges come from NerdWallet and Motley Fool, and payment shares from Pew's analysis of Federal Reserve data. The interchange-plus examples are illustrative. Sonary is a comparison site and advertising affects which products appear here. It does not affect the numbers we report.