How we make money and how we rank

How we make money

Today no provider pays us. Two of the providers we compare run referral programmes we could join, and we plan to apply once the site is live; the rest have none we could find. When a programme accepts us, this is how it will work: Fee Check is free to use because some providers pay us a commission when you click through to them and sign up or buy. It costs you nothing extra. Commission never changes which providers we include, the order we list them in, or what we say about them.

Every provider we compare, and whether it could pay us:

When a link could earn us money, a short note sits right beside it saying so. Links to providers go through an address on this site starting with /go/, which lets us switch a link to a tracked referral in one place and keeps search engines from treating it as an endorsement.

How we rank

Fee Check ranks providers by lowest fees a year on your numbers (transaction fees plus any rental), then lowest first-year cost including hardware. Commission is never an input: a provider that pays us is ranked exactly where it would be if it paid nothing, and providers that pay nothing are still included when they fit.

In practice that means the bank plans often rank above the providers with referral programmes, because their published rates are lower. We show that as it is. If a provider that pays us is the weaker choice for you, it appears lower, and we say why.

• Fees a year are the percentage fees on your card mix, plus any per-sale fee, plus monthly rental and minimum fees, times twelve.
• Missing rates. When a plan publishes no rate for a card type (some bank plans give none for American Express), we price that card type at the RBA’s average merchant fee for it and flag the plan, so it is neither flattered nor penalised.
• Overseas cards. When a provider publishes one rate for a network without separating overseas cards, we apply that rate to overseas cards too, and say so on the pages where it matters.
• GST. We use each rate as the provider publishes it and record whether the provider says it includes GST. Hardware prices are converted to GST-inclusive where the provider states the basis.
• Example inputs, such as the card mix and the industry examples, are illustrations to change, not market averages. Where an input comes from published data, such as the share of payments made by debit card, we cite it.

What we compare

We compare only the 11 plans named on this site, not the whole market. Other products may be available that suit you better. Those 11 plans come from 8 providers: Zeller, SumUp, Square, Stripe, CommBank, Westpac, ANZ Worldline, NAB. We add a plan when we can read its in-person rate on the provider’s own site. Tyro is missing because its website blocked our checks on 3 October 2026, and we don’t publish rates we can’t verify. Plans with negotiated or custom pricing aren’t compared, because their rates aren’t public.

How we check facts

Every rate, fee and rule on the site links to the source it came from, usually the provider’s own pricing page or the Reserve Bank, with the date we last checked it. We re-check rates when the rules change (the next dates are 30 October 2026 and 1 April 2027) and at least monthly. If you find something out of date, email hello@feecheck.com.au and we will correct it.

General information only

Fee Check provides general information only. It does not take your circumstances into account. Check prices, terms and suitability with the provider before you buy or sign up.

Card acceptance is a payment service, not credit. Nothing here is legal advice on how the surcharging rules apply to your business; your payment provider and the card networks set and enforce those rules.