You invoiced a brand for 2,500 USD. The deposit that landed is 2,303.52, and nothing in the notification explains where the rest went. The problem is not that a fee was charged. It is that four separate fees can hit the same payment, each on a different base, and only one is the number printed on the processor’s marketing page.
Why the payout never matches the invoice
Four categories of deduction can apply to a single incoming payment, and they stack rather than replace each other. A percentage transaction fee takes a share of the gross. A fixed per-transaction fee adds a flat amount regardless of size, trivial on a 2,500 USD invoice and painful on a 40 USD one. A currency conversion fee or spread applies when the money arrives in a currency your account does not hold. A payout speed fee applies when you move the settled balance to your bank faster than the standard schedule.
The headline rate on a pricing page is the first category, sometimes bundled with the second. It is a line item, not a total.
Stripe’s fee schedule, read from the source
Stripe’s pricing page geo-redirects. A plain request to stripe.com/pricing from outside the United States lands on a country page with an entirely different rate structure, so every figure below is from the United States version, fetched 6 September 2026. Read the page your own account country serves.
On the US page, standard online card processing is 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per successful transaction for domestic cards. Three modifiers sit on the same line: an additional 0.5 percent for manually entered cards, 1.5 percent for international cards, and 1 percent if currency conversion is required. So Stripe does disclose a separate conversion charge, and it adds to the international surcharge rather than replacing it.
Payout speed is priced separately again. The page states instant payouts cost 1.5 percent of Instant Payouts volume with a minimum fee of 50 cents. Paying out on the standard schedule is listed as free.
PayPal’s fee schedule, read from the source
PayPal’s US merchant fee page carries a last-updated stamp of 1 September 2026 and treats invoicing as its own category, which is the path a brand deal usually takes. For a domestic invoicing transaction, the page states 3.49 percent plus a fixed fee when the customer pays through PayPal Checkout, Pay with Venmo, or PayPal Guest Checkout, and 2.99 percent plus a fixed fee for standard credit and debit card payments, Apple Pay, or other third-party wallets. The fixed fee follows the currency received: 0.49 USD, 0.39 EUR, 0.39 GBP.
Cross-border is a stated separate line. PayPal defines an international transaction as one where sender and receiver are registered as residents of different markets, and the domestic invoicing fee then applies plus 1.50 percent across all payment types.
Conversion is disclosed as a spread. The currency conversions table states the exchange rate will include a spread of 4.00 percent for a listed set of transaction types, and 3.00 percent for all other transactions. Both are qualified on the page as an amount that may be disclosed differently to you during the transaction, so the published number is a default rather than a guarantee. Payout speed is priced too: standard withdrawal to a linked bank account is free when no conversion is involved, and instant transfer to a bank account or linked debit card is 1.50 percent, minimum 0.50 USD.
Wise’s fee schedule, read from the source
Wise does not belong in the same column as the other two. Stripe and PayPal price a card being charged. Wise prices a transfer and a conversion. If a brand pays by card, Wise is not collecting that payment. If it pays by bank transfer, no card-processing percentage applies at all.
Wise’s US pricing page states that registering, holding money, and getting account details to receive in 22 currencies are all free. Receiving domestic payments that are not Swift or wire is free in nine currencies including USD, EUR and GBP. A USD wire or Swift payment carries a fixed 6.11 USD, with 2.16 GBP and 2.39 EUR listed for those currencies.
Conversion is where Wise actually charges on a brand deal. The page lists sending and converting money as a fee that varies by currency, from 0.23 percent, at the mid-market rate with the fee charged upfront rather than built into the rate. That floor is not a rate for any specific pair, so a total built on it is a best case. The send-money page returns a live calculator rather than a fee table.
Running the same invoice through all three
One hypothetical invoice. Assumptions, stated so you can change them: 2,500.00 USD invoiced, a US account, a brand in another market, payment in a currency that must be converted to USD, expedited payout. Stripe and PayPal use their card and invoicing paths. The Wise row assumes a bank transfer, the only way money reaches Wise.
| Step | Stripe | PayPal (invoicing) | Wise (bank transfer in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross invoice | 2,500.00 | 2,500.00 | 2,500.00 |
| Base rate | 2.9 percent = 72.50 | 3.49 percent = 87.25 | none, not a card charge |
| Fixed fee | 0.30 | 0.49 (USD received) | 0.00 ACH, or 6.11 by wire |
| Running total | 72.80 taken, 2,427.20 left | 87.74 taken, 2,412.26 left | 0.00 or 6.11 taken |
| Cross-border surcharge | 1.5 percent = 37.50 | 1.50 percent = 37.50 | none published |
| Running total | 110.30 taken, 2,389.70 left | 125.24 taken, 2,374.76 left | unchanged |
| Currency conversion | 1 percent = 25.00 | 3.00 percent spread = 71.24 (estimate) | from 0.23 percent = 5.75 (floor, estimate) |
| Running total | 135.30 taken, 2,364.70 left | 196.48 taken, 2,303.52 left | 5.75 taken, 2,494.25 left |
| Expedited payout | 1.5 percent of payout = 35.47 (estimate) | 1.50 percent instant transfer = 34.55 | none published |
| Total deducted | 170.77 | 231.03 | 5.75, or 11.85 by wire |
| Lands in the bank | 2,329.23 | 2,268.97 | 2,494.25, or 2,488.15 |
Three line items are estimates. PayPal’s 3.00 percent is the “all other transactions” spread, and which of its two spreads applies to an inbound converted payment is not something the page resolves. Wise’s 0.23 percent is the published floor, so a real conversion into USD will cost more. Stripe’s instant payout percentage is charged on Instant Payouts volume, and this table applies it to the post-fee balance. The Wise column is not a cheaper quote for the same transaction, it is what a bank transfer costs.
Where the fee actually lands depends on how the brand pays
Take the same 2,500 USD invoice and make it domestic, same-currency, standard payout. On Stripe that is 2.9 percent plus 30 cents, 72.80, and nothing else. On PayPal invoicing via PayPal Checkout it is 87.74, with standard withdrawal at no fee. Against the cross-border, converted, expedited version in the table, Stripe’s deduction more than doubles and PayPal’s grows by roughly a factor of 2.6.
Payout speed is the one lever you control outright. The brand’s payment method sets the base rate, the cross-border surcharge, and whether a conversion happens. Whether you then pay 1.5 percent on Stripe or 1.50 percent on PayPal to get the balance days sooner is your call, and both pages state that standard timing is free. On this payout that choice is worth about 35 USD.
What to check before the next invoice goes out
- Ask the brand in writing which currency they intend to pay in, before the invoice goes out. That answer decides whether a conversion fee applies at all, the largest swing factor above.
- Confirm whether your processor treats the brand as domestic or international. PayPal’s test is the residency of the two accounts, not where the invoice was sent from.
- Open your payout settings and read the current speed rather than assuming it. Standard is the free default on both Stripe and PayPal, instant an opt-in costing 1.5 percent.
- Make the invoice terms match the payment path. Our piece on invoicing tools for social media freelancers covers what those free tiers cap, and e-signature tools for creator agreements covers the step before it.
Prices verified 6 September 2026 by fetching each processor’s own pricing page. This is not Watchdog data and it is not on the re-verification schedule, so treat every figure as accurate on that date and check the source pages before relying on them. followedapp is published by the team behind RecurPost.
FAQ
Why does the deposit never match the invoice amount exactly?
Because more than one fee type applies to the same payment and each is calculated separately. A percentage fee, a fixed per-transaction fee, a conversion spread, and a payout speed fee can all hit one 2,500 USD invoice, each computed against a different base. The worked example gives the running total per processor, so you can substitute your own amount.
Does choosing a faster payout always cost more?
On the two pages checked here, yes, by a stated amount. Stripe’s US pricing page lists instant payouts at 1.5 percent of Instant Payouts volume with a 50 cent minimum, against a free standard schedule. PayPal lists instant transfer at 1.50 percent with a 0.50 USD minimum for US dollar withdrawals, against no fee for a standard withdrawal to a linked bank account. Wise’s US pricing page publishes no instant payout fee of this kind, so nothing is claimed about it here.
Sources
- Stripe, Pricing (US version), 6 September 2026.
- Stripe, Pricing (India version, on geo-redirect), 6 September 2026.
- PayPal, Merchant Fees (US), 6 September 2026.
- Wise, Pricing (US residents), 6 September 2026.
- Wise, Sending Money, 6 September 2026, a live calculator with no fee table.