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Starting from a $450 average transaction and the card mix typical for dental practices.
Dental payments are mid-sized, high-volume and overwhelmingly domestic, so the percentage rate dominates and international surcharges are irrelevant.
Paydude surcharges Amex at +0.3%
Excluding Amex, counted above
Stripe surcharges these; Paydude does not
Take these shares from a real statement rather than estimating. Card mix moves the answer more than the headline rate does, which is the entire reason this calculator asks for it.
Paydude is cheaper here at any card mix — even if every single transaction were on a surcharged card, the base rate difference would still cover it.
Annual saving at other Amex + premium shares
Excludes chargeback and dispute fees, where Paydude charges $12 against a $15–$25 norm. Those depend on your dispute rate rather than your volume, so they are left out of the comparison above.
Payment plans and financing are common, and splitting a treatment into instalments multiplies the fixed fee without changing the percentage much.
| Fee | Effective rate | |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | $13.35 | 2.97% |
| Paydude 2.55% + 20¢ | $11.68 | 2.59% |
Splitting a $2,000 treatment into five $400 payments costs five fixed fees rather than one, and five times the chance of a failed payment. At this ticket size the fixed-fee cost is minor; the failed-payment risk is not.
For what failed instalments cost across a patient base, see the failed payment calculator.
GOOD QUESTIONS
At a typical $450 transaction, a standard 2.9% + 30¢ rate works out at 2.97%. At that ticket the fixed fee is almost irrelevant — the percentage and your card mix decide the bill. Corporate and Amex cards, which are common in this industry, cost more to accept everywhere.
At this volume and ticket size, compare on percentage and on how payment plans are supported. Card-present terminals matter if you take payment at the desk — that is a capability some API-first providers, including Paydude, do not offer.
Because their interchange is higher — the rewards and expense-management features those cards offer are funded from the fee the merchant pays. Some providers surcharge them explicitly; others fold the cost into a higher base rate that every merchant pays regardless of card mix.
Frequently, at this ticket size. ACH is typically a flat fee of under a dollar rather than a percentage, so on a $450 payment it can cost a fraction of card processing. The trade is settlement speed and a longer dispute window.