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Understanding online payment methods and fees at Bonsai
Understanding online payment methods and fees at Bonsai

An overview of the processing fees when getting an invoice paid using Bonsai Payments, Stripe, or Paypal.

Updated today

When you're getting paid online through Bonsai, it's important to understand the different payment methods we support and the fees associated with them. We offer a variety of online and offline payment options to ensure you receive your payments efficiently.

Bonsai Payments

Bonsai Payments is available for users in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. This method is deeply integrated with Bonsai, offering faster payouts and a smoother client experience. It allows payments via credit card, debit card, and bank transfer (ACH).

  • Credit and Debit Cards (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Discover, JCB, Diners Club, UnionPay): 2.9% + $0.30.

  • American Express: 3.25% + $0.30.

  • Bank Transfer (ACH): 1.0% ($1 minimum).

  • Instant Payouts: Additional 1.5% fee included

Stripe Payments

Stripe Payments can be used in any country where Stripe is supported. Enabling Stripe Payments will create a sub-account in Stripe that is hosted by Bonsai.

Note: For US users, Bonsai Payments is activated by default as a payment option, so you'll first need to deactivate it. To do so, navigate to Financial Management in the lefthand navigation bar > select Invoices > select 'Edit Payment Methods' > select the 3 dots next to Bonsai Payments > 'Deactivate Payment Method'. Once you've done so, you'll be able to enable Stripe Payments.

  • Credit and Debit Cards: 2.9% + $0.30.

  • American Express: 3.25% + $0.30.

  • Bank Transfer (ACH): 1.0% ($1 minimum)

PayPal

PayPal's fees typically are 2.9% + $0.30, though they may vary by country. More information about their fees can be found on Paypal's official website here.

Third-party platform fee

In locations where Bonsai Payments is available, utilizing other payment processors, such as Stripe Payments or PayPal, will result in an additional 1% platform fee being added to the payout amount. For processing American Express cards using Stripe Payments, the platform fee is 1.35%.

Foreign exchange (FX) fee

The Foreign Exchange (FX) fee is a fee that is added to your Bonsai Payments or Stripe Payments invoices when you get paid internationally using one of our online payment methods. This fee is 2.5% of your invoice amount.

You can learn more about the FX fee and when is it effective, in detail here.

Why are there fees associated with my transactions? These fees are primarily due to the costs charged by payment networks like Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Bonsai passes these costs through to ensure seamless and secure transactions.

'Other' payment methods outside Bonsai

Other payment methods outside of Bonsai, such as wire transfer and mailed check, are not integrated into Bonsai's platform so any invoice template you send will not automatically be marked as paid upon completion.

If you decide to use these options, Bonsai will simply display the information to your client and you will need to mark your invoice as paid.

In order to use these offline payment options, you need to enable the below setting on the Invoice Settings page. You can access this by navigating to Financial Management, select Invoices, and then select Settings. Next select "Show 'other' payment method option":

Upon enabling this option, you can include any instructions for your client to process payment externally to the platform (e.g. providing a bank account #, wire transfer instructions, etc.) These instructions will then appear under the available payment methods when your client reviews the invoice.

Note: There are no fees associated with utilizing 'Other' payment method options on your Bonsai account.

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