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FX and Settlement (Operator Field Manual)

TL;DR
  • FX markup of 50-150 basis points over mid-market is usually the biggest fee you can't see. Nobody publishes their spread, so ask for it in basis points and don't accept "competitive" as an answer
  • The published cross-border adders aren't small either. Braintree charges +1% for a card issued outside the US and another +1% for non-USD, Stripe charges +0.8% plus a 2% currency conversion fee, and PayPal charges +1.50%. Verified 2026-08-02
  • Local acquiring beats cross-border on auth rate and on cost once a country passes 10-15% of your volume. Below that, cross-border is fine and you shouldn't bother
  • DCC lets a customer pay in their home currency at a rate you didn't set and they won't like. It raises disputes
  • RTP and FedNow are irrevocable. Once it's sent, it's gone, so treat them like cash

You took an international order, the money landed, and the deposit came in smaller than your spreadsheet said it would. That gap is almost always FX, and it's almost always invisible, because the spread never shows up as a line item on a statement.

The published half of this is knowable in an afternoon. The unpublished half comes down to one question you can ask your processor today, and the numbers below tell you whether the answer you get is reasonable.

Published cross-border and conversion fees below were verified against each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-08-02. Rate cards vary by the country your account is contracted in, so check the page your own processor serves you. FX spread isn't published by anyone and has to be asked for.

What Matters​

  • FX markup is usually the biggest silent fee. Ask for the spread against mid-market, in basis points.
  • Local acquiring beats cross-border on auth and cost once the volume justifies the setup work.
  • DCC is a bad deal for your customer and it lands in your dispute rate.
  • Settlement currency and timing drive cash flow. Reserves and holds move more money than basis points do.
  • RTP and FedNow can't be reversed. Treat them like cash.

What Cross-Border Actually Costs, As Published​

These are the adders the processors publish themselves. They sit on top of your normal card rate.

ProviderCross-border adderCurrency conversionSource, verified 2026-08-02
PayPal+1.50% internationalNot separately publishedpaypal.com
Braintree+1% for cards issued outside the US+1% for non-USD currencypaypal.com
Stripe+0.8% for international cards+2% currency conversionstripe.com/pricing, CAD-served
AdyenNot published. Interchange++ plus a $0.13 processing fee, so scheme cross-border fees pass through at costNot publishedadyen.com/pricing
Square, Shopify Payments, Helcim, Stax, Checkout.comNot publishedNot publishedAsk

Stripe's figures above came off the Canadian rate card. Stripe serves a different page depending on where your account sits, so pull up your own country's pricing before you plug these into a model.

The stacking is what catches people. A US merchant on Braintree taking a euro-denominated payment from a European card pays +2% on top of 2.89% + $0.29, an effective 4.89% before FX spread. On the Stripe numbers above, an international card converted to your settlement currency is +0.8% and +2%, an effective 5.7% on a 2.9% base.

FX spread is a separate, unpublished cost. Nobody publishes what they take over mid-market. Directionally it runs 50 to 150 basis points, but that's a planning placeholder, not a verified figure. Ask for it in basis points and get the answer in writing.

Local vs Cross-Border​

  • Local acquiring gets you better auth rates and a lower spread, but you'll need a local entity and local banking to do it.
  • Cross-border is faster to launch. You're paying for that speed in cost and in declined orders.
  • The rule of thumb: once a country is more than 10-15% of volume, go look at local acquiring seriously.
  • Do the arithmetic before you decide. At Braintree's published +2% for a non-USD international card, a country worth $100K a month is costing you $2,000 a month in adders alone, and that's usually enough to pay for the work.

RTP/FedNow Irrevocability Warning​

  • A bank push payment can't be clawed back. There's no dispute process to fall back on.
  • That makes them a magnet for social engineering: business email compromise, invoice redirection, "our bank details have changed."
  • Use them with counterparties you know, and verify any new bank details out of band. Call a number you already had, not the one in the email.

Multi-Currency Cash Flow Ops​

  • Decide where conversion happens: at capture, at payout, or at your bank. Pick one deliberately, because the default is whatever your processor does.
  • Holding balances in a currency is good if you spend in that currency and bad if you always convert later anyway.
  • Multi-currency payouts complicate your books. Align settlement currency with your ledger currency or your reconciliation will never close cleanly.
  • See also: Payout Strategy.

DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion)​

  • The customer almost always gets a worse rate than their own bank would give them, and some of them notice. Expect complaints and expect a few disputes.
  • Offer local currency by default. If a customer insists on DCC, let them opt in, but don't push it.

Ask Your Processor​

  • "What's our FX spread against mid-market, in basis points?"
  • "Do you charge a cross-border fee and an FX markup together?"
  • "Can we settle in local currency? What are the payout timings and fees?"
  • "Can we turn DCC off by default?"
  • "Do you support local acquiring in [target countries]?"

If you get "competitive" or "market rate" back, that's a no. Ask again in writing.

Where This Breaks​

  • You ignore FX until margins shrink, then spend a quarter working out where the money went.
  • You run all EU volume as US cross-border. That's an auth-rate loss and an extra fee, at the same time.
  • You accept RTP or FedNow from someone you don't know, and the loss is permanent.
  • You go multi-currency without telling your accountant, and nothing reconciles.

Next Steps​

Reducing FX costs?

  1. Ask for spread in bps - Not "competitive"
  2. Evaluate local acquiring - If country >10-15% volume
  3. Understand DCC risks - Usually bad for customers

Managing multi-currency cash flow?

  1. Decide conversion timing - At capture, payout, or bank
  2. Align with accounting - Settlement currency = ledger
  3. Review payout strategy - Multi-currency details

Handling RTP/FedNow?

  1. Know irrevocability risk - Can't claw back
  2. Use only with trusted parties - High BEC risk
  3. Verify new bank details - Out-of-band confirmation
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