Understanding Fees & Processing

OpenChair deducts card-processing costs automatically. This article explains the rates and the limited cases where a venue may ask an online customer with an internationally issued card to cover the additional international-card cost.

Where to find it: Owners manage the setting in Settings > Payment processing on web and mobile. In-person payments manages Tap to Pay, physical readers, Walk-out checkout, and external terminals. Existing /card-payments links remain compatible and open In-person payments.

At a glance

• Processing costs apply to card transactions on FREE and PRO. Cash has no card-processing cost.
• The listed percentage and fixed fee apply to online, Terminal, and Tap to Pay transactions.
• OpenChair never adds a customer surcharge to saved-card, Stripe Terminal, or Tap to Pay charges. Processing costs are deducted from venue revenue.
• The only customer-passed option offered by current OpenChair settings is Pass international card fees only, and only for eligible online payments in the country/date matrix below.
• Pass all fees to customer is retired. Old apps may still send its legacy value, but the server converts it to a safe current policy and never increases the customer's amount.

Fee rates by plan and country

Online payments

Country	FREE plan	PRO plan
Australia	3.0% + $0.50 AUD	1.8% + $0.30 AUD
New Zealand	3.5% + $0.50 NZD	2.5% + $0.30 NZD
United Kingdom	2.5% + £0.30	2.0% + £0.20

In-person payments

Country	FREE plan	PRO plan
Australia	3.0% + $0.50 AUD	1.8% + $0.30 AUD
New Zealand	3.5% + $0.50 NZD	2.5% + $0.30 NZD
United Kingdom	2.5% + £0.30	2.0% + £0.20

For example, a $100 AUD payment on PRO has a $2.10 processing cost whether it is paid online, through a connected card reader, or with Tap to Pay.

Who pays the processing cost

Owners can select one of the options that Payment processing shows for their venue:

Option	Customer experience
Absorb all fees	The customer pays the service price. OpenChair deducts processing costs from venue revenue.
Pass international card fees only	When the matrix below permits it, an eligible online payment made with an internationally issued card includes the displayed international-card amount. All other charges are absorbed.

Changes save automatically. Payment processing shows Saving, Saved, or Failed and lets you retry a failed change. The applicable online and in-person rates appear before the choices.

Country, date, and channel matrix

Venue country and date	Eligible online payment	Saved card	Stripe Terminal	Tap to Pay
Australia, before the venue's local 1 October 2026 cutoff	International-only may be selected	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge
Australia, from the venue's local 1 October 2026 cutoff	No customer surcharge for any card origin	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge
New Zealand	International-only may be selected	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge
United Kingdom	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge
Unknown or unsupported country	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge	No customer surcharge

For Australian venues, OpenChair's policy from the local cutoff is deliberately simple: OpenChair adds no customer surcharge across any channel or card origin. OpenChair does not rely on a card-scheme or international-card exception after that cutoff. Processing costs are deducted from venue revenue; the change is who pays them, not whether they exist.

International cards

An international card is issued in a different country from the venue. Where the matrix permits Pass international card fees only, OpenChair checks the card origin for an eligible online payment, shows the amount before confirmation, and adds it to that online payment. Selecting Absorb all fees keeps that cost with the venue.

International processing costs may still apply on other channels. That does not mean the customer is surcharged: saved-card, Terminal, and Tap to Pay processing costs are deducted from venue revenue.

Refunds and payout balances

Processing costs are deducted before funds reach the available balance. The original processing cost is not returned when a payment is refunded. Use Payments to review balances, payout history, and transactions.

Troubleshooting

Issue	What to do
The setting is locked to Absorb all fees	This is the safe effective policy for GB, unknown countries, and AU from the local cutoff. No customer surcharge is added.
A retired option appeared in an old app	Refresh or update the app. The server normalises old pass_all writes to a safe current policy.
A customer reports an unexpected extra amount	Check the transaction and effective policy in Payments. Terminal, Tap to Pay, and saved-card charges should never contain an OpenChair-added customer surcharge.
A save failed	Payment processing restores the last confirmed option and shows Failed with a retry action.
Payout is lower than the gross transaction amount	Processing costs are deducted before funds become available. Compare the transaction and balance in Payments.

Related articles

• Managing Payouts
• Tap to Pay
• Walk-out Checkout
• Setting Up Stripe & Card Payments