Sonder Payments Pricing (What Does 8 Cents Per Transaction Mean?)

If you’ve heard of Sonder Payments, you’ve probably heard about our pricing: “Members pay true cost plus 8 cents per transaction, as opposed to a percentage of your revenue.” But you might ask yourself: What does that really mean? What does it mean to be a Sonder Payments member? What is “true cost?” Am I really paying just 8 cents per transaction?

In order to properly answer these questions, it’s important to first explain how pricing works in the payment processing industry. There are generally two pricing methods you can expect to find from a payment processor: a flat percentage and what’s called an interchange-plus model.

Flat percentage processors take the same percentage out of every transaction you make. Whether it be large or small, your processor will take a percentage of your revenue.

Interchange-plus pricing, however, is a little more dynamic. Interchange is the cost of completing a transaction. These rates are set by card companies and banks and do not vary between processors. No processor can survive without charging you for interchange. That’s what we at Sonder Payments call “true cost.”

Most processors out there with an interchange-plus model will charge interchange plus a percentage of the transaction amount, plus an additional constant amount. So you’ll often hear processors say something like “you’ll be paying 4 basis points plus 20 cents on every transaction.” That means you’ll pay interchange, 0.4% of your transaction amount, and an additional 20 cents every time you swipe a card.

We thought that was a little too confusing, so we went a different route. Rather than charging confusing percentages, we decided that our fees would only be static amounts. That’s where we came up with the monthly membership and our 8 cents. Merchants pay a monthly membership fee that’s based off of their annual revenue ($99 per month for the first million you transact, then an addition $100 per month per additional million). For members who pay that monthly membership fee, each transaction costs just 8 cents.

So, what are you paying at Sonder Payments? There are three big things to know:

1. Membership Fee: Monthly fee based on annual revenue, starting at just $99 per month.
2. Interchange: This is the cost of completing a transaction, set by banks and card companies. These are identical at every single processor.
3. 8 Cents Per Transaction: After interchange, you’re not paying additional percentages. A card transaction costs you just 8 cents, no matter how large or small.

If you’re interested in learning more about Sonder Payments, the benefits of membership, or our offerings, contact info@sonderpayments.com or call (314) 722–6424.