Yesterday, Google Checkout announced that it was changing its fee structure beginning May 5 – eliminating the previous credit that Google AdWords customers got that reduced their Google Checkout fees.
Instead, the new Google Checkout fee structure essentially parallels that of PayPal’s – a long-standing fee structure that the online payments leader has had in place for many years.
Below are the two fee tables:
| Monthly Sales | Google Checkout fee per transaction |
|---|---|
| Less than $3,000 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| $3,000 – $9,999.99 | 2.5% + $0.30 |
| $10,000 – $99,999.99 | 2.2% + $0.30 |
| $100,000 or more | 1.9% + $0.30 |
| Monthly Sales | PayPal fee per transaction |
| $0.00 – $3,000 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| $3,000.01 – $10,000 | 2.5% + $0.30 |
| $10,000.01 – $100,000 | 2.2% + $0.30 |
| > $100,000 | 1.9% + $0.30 |
Google Checkout continues to only support funding via the four major payment card brands for US sellers: Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Unlike PayPal, Google Checkout continues not supporting funding directly (via ACH) from checking accounts.
Both Google Checkout and PayPal have a 1% surcharge to US sellers on all cross-border transactions.
What about Amazon Checkout (or Amazon SimplePay)? You guessed it – the fee structure is essentially the same – starting at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction in the lowest tier and going down to 1.9% + $0.30 per transaction for monthly sales over $100,000. Sound familiar? Amazon allows buyers to pay using Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, JCB, or Diner’s Club credit cards.
Amazon does have a subtle difference – those fees apply to transactions of $10.00 or more. For transactions of less than $10.00, Amazon’s fees are 5.0% + $0.05 for all transactions – with no tiering based on monthly sales.
So, that’s where things stand today. With Google’s just announced changes, all of the three major online payment players have priced their services essentially the same – for US sellers. However, there are more differences “under the covers” between these services than just the pricing would seem to indicate.
What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below!
Scott is a founder of Glenbrook with more than 30 years of experience in information technology. He is a co-author of the book “Payments Systems in the U.S.” and a co-inventor of US Patent 6,332,126 and US Patent 7,840,459. At Glenbrook, Scott focused his work on payments innovation, mobile payments, and social media / Web 2.0 in banking and financial services.
Previously, Scott was group executive vice president at First Data Merchant Services and at Visa International, where he led the development of Visa’s global payment systems strategies. Scott began his career as a systems engineer with IBM, where he held a series of technical management and product planning positions over seventeen years. Scott formally retired from Glenbrook in October 2016, but remains important to the firm as both a friend and advisor.