Card payments for small shops: fees, payouts and Bancontact explained

How an online card payment works

At checkout, the customer enters their card, or pays with Apple Pay or Google Pay. The payment provider (Stripe, in the examples below) sends the payment to the card network, such as Visa, Mastercard or Cartes Bancaires, which asks the customer's bank to approve it. The bank may ask the customer to confirm in their banking app. A few seconds later the payment is approved and the order is confirmed.

The money then waits in your Stripe account for a few days before it is paid out to your bank account, minus Stripe's fee. You are the seller: the payment is made to your business, and the customer's bank statement shows the name you choose, usually your shop's name.

What it costs: Stripe's standard fees

On its standard pricing, Stripe charges a fee on each successful payment, with no setup fee and no monthly fee. For a business based in France or Belgium, the standard rates are:

Apple Pay and Google Pay are charged at the rate of the card behind them. Most of your local customers will pay with standard European cards. If your business is based in the UK, Stripe's standard rate is 1.5% + 20p for UK cards (2.8% + 20p for premium UK cards, 2.5% + 20p for EEA cards).

A €30 order paid with a standard European card:

• Stripe's fee: 1.5% × €30 + €0.25 = €0.70
• With Add Your Shop, our commission: 2.5% × €30 = €0.75 (until the monthly cap of €49 is reached)
• You receive €28.55

Note that the fixed part weighs more on small orders: on a €5 order, the €0.25 alone is 5% of the sale. If you sell a lot of small items, a minimum order or bundles (six croissants rather than one) keep the fees in proportion.

When the money arrives

Payments don't reach your bank instantly. Stripe holds them for a short period, then pays them out on a schedule:

• Your first payout is typically scheduled 7 to 14 days after your first successful payment, depending on your industry, your country and the risk level.
• After that, Stripe's standard timing in France, Belgium and the UK is 3 business days: a payment made on a Monday is usually available for payout on the Thursday.
• You choose the rhythm: daily, weekly (for example every Monday) or monthly, and you can change it at any time in your Stripe dashboard.
• Standard payouts are free. Instant payouts exist for a fee (1%, minimum €0.50).

Plan for that first delay when you open. If you launch a Christmas range at the end of October, the first money reaches your bank in November, not the next morning. Most banks credit payouts as soon as they arrive; some take a day or two longer.

Refunds

You can refund an order in full or in part from your Stripe dashboard, up to the amount originally paid. Good to know:

• Issuing a refund costs nothing extra, but Stripe does not return the fee of the original payment. On a refunded €30 order, the €0.70 stays with Stripe.
• The money goes back to the original card, never to another card or account. It usually shows on the customer's statement within 5 to 10 business days, depending on their bank.
• Refunds come out of your Stripe balance. If the balance doesn't cover a card refund, it waits until it does, and Stripe can debit your bank account to cover a negative balance.
• Partial refunds suit a missing item or a substitution: refund the difference, not the whole order.

With Add Your Shop, when you refund a customer in full or in part, we refund our commission on the refunded amount. Stripe's own rules apply to its fee.

Chargebacks and disputes

A dispute, or chargeback, happens when a cardholder asks their bank to reverse a payment: they don't recognise it, they say the order never arrived, or that it wasn't as described. It is rare for a shop that delivers what it promises, but worth understanding:

• Cardholders usually have up to 120 days after the payment to open a dispute.
• The disputed amount is withdrawn from your Stripe balance straight away, plus a €20 dispute fee (£20 for UK businesses).
• You can respond with evidence, usually within 7 to 21 days depending on the card network. Countering costs a further €20, which you get back if you win. The customer's bank decides, and the whole process can take two to three months.
• Good evidence is simple: the order confirmation, a pickup or delivery record, the tracking number, your emails with the customer.

Prevention works better than evidence. Use a statement name customers recognise (your shop's name, not a company name they have never heard of), clear descriptions and photos, and a collection or delivery policy shown before checkout. Above all, answer quickly when a customer writes: a customer who gets a refund from you has no reason to ask their bank for one. With Add Your Shop, no commission is due on charged-back amounts.

3-D Secure and strong authentication

Since 14 September 2019, European rules (the second Payment Services Directive, known as PSD2) have required strong customer authentication for online card payments in the European Economic Area. In practice, the customer's bank asks them to confirm the payment, usually with a tap in their banking app. For cards, this check is called 3-D Secure.

• It happens automatically in Stripe's checkout when the bank asks for it. Some low-risk payments can be exempted, but the customer's bank has the final say.
• It protects you: when a payment authenticated with 3-D Secure is later disputed as fraud, the liability generally shifts from you to the card issuer.
• It costs nothing extra on Stripe's standard pricing.

The one thing worth telling customers: keep the banking app at hand when paying. A payment left unconfirmed is a basket left behind.

Bancontact and Cartes Bancaires

Bancontact in Belgium

Bancontact is a common way to pay in Belgium. To pay online, customers use their Bancontact card, or the Bancontact app linked to their Belgian bank account.

• How it works: the customer chooses Bancontact at checkout, confirms with the card or by scanning a QR code with the app, and returns to your shop. The result is confirmed immediately.
• Cost: for a business based in Belgium, a flat €0.35 per payment with Stripe, which works out cheaper than a standard card on orders above about €7. A business based in France pays 1.4% + €0.25 per Bancontact payment.
• Limits: euros only, from €0.50, and one-off payments only.
• No chargebacks: because customers confirm the payment directly with their bank, Bancontact payments can't be disputed the way card payments can. If a customer has a problem, their bank sends them back to you.
• Refunds are possible, in full or in part, for up to 730 days after the payment. They usually reach the customer's account within 2 to 5 days.

Cartes Bancaires in France

Cartes Bancaires (CB) is France's national card network. More than 95% of CB cards are co-badged with Visa or Mastercard, so the same card can be processed on either network.

• The customer chooses. For co-badged cards in Europe, businesses must let customers choose which network to use at checkout.
• Better acceptance: if a payment is declined on the CB network for a technical reason, Stripe automatically retries it on Visa or Mastercard.
• Fewer disputes: the CB network sets a higher bar before a cardholder can open a dispute, and for businesses in the Single Euro Payments Area there is no dispute fee on payments processed through CB. The other side of the coin: you can't contest a CB dispute.

Sources, checked October 2026: Stripe pricing for France, Belgium and the UK, and for local payment methods in Belgium and France; Stripe documentation on payouts, refunds, disputes, strong customer authentication, Bancontact and Cartes Bancaires. Fees change: check Stripe's pricing page for your country before relying on them.