International processing fees of 1.5 % introduced. WHY?

[RGC]

I'm a Google Ads specialist for several UK-based tour guides, whose customer base is 100% in the US. Their websites are all built around shopping carts that support the Square Payments gateway, specifically selected because of the flat fees. 

Last night I got a message telling me that my business "won't be affected" because I don't process any international payments - but that a new 1.5% fee will be added to all such payments from April onwards.

Well, my business WILL be affected, because either my clients will suffer an effective 60% increase in their card processing fees - which amounts to a LOT of money for them over a year - or they will have to change payment provider to avoid the extra fees. 

If they change payment provider, their websites will no longer be able to process payments unless the existing shopping cart has a gateway for the new provider - and implementing that has a cost. If the existing cart isn't suitable, their entire website will have to be built around a new shopping cart. This takes money out of the cashflow they use to pay me - so my business most definitely will be affected. Square will lose their business, of course. 

They are already suffering lower sales due to the weakness of the US$ and now the remaining sales will be less profitable.

I'd like to understand why Square claims it needs to "align [Square's] pricing with the evolving costs Square incurs to process payments". What "evolving" costs? I've seen nothing in the news about international processing fees being increased by card payment providers. The most recent change I can find was Mastercard's change to EU fees in 2021. Nothing has "evolved" since then unless it's buried very deep and not obvious in a Google search.

An increase of 60% in fees for every transaction is excessive. Shocking. Unprecedented. Unjustifiable as far as we can all see. I have some very difficult conversation coming up, because these clients of mine simply can't ignore a 60% increase in card fees.  It's excessive.

[_Violet]

Hello @RGC and thank you for your feedback and questions. My name is Violet and I'm one of the Square Community Moderators. I can certainly provide some additional information, regarding this change.

We are introducing this fee on international card sales to better reflect the true costs Square pays to its network and payments partners on these transactions. In the UK, this fee began applying to new Square Sellers on February 2, 2026 and for existing Square Sellers, April 2, 2026.

Occasionally, we update our pricing to better align with the evolving costs Square incurs so that we can continue to invest in our platform, create new features, and expand the value we provide to our Sellers. Some competitors do charge international transaction fees, though the rates and structures vary. Many competitors don’t disclose this fee openly. Square's 1.5% is competitive with global payment processors.

We’re committed to transparently communicating this fee rollout with a flat rate. We’ve created resources such as the payment methods report to help you understand the impact on your business, and you can see the full list of processing rates on our fees page.

I hope this information is helpful, but if you have any additional questions, please let me know.

[RGC]

Sorry, but I already read everything you quoted in your answer in the notification email.

"We are introducing this fee on international card sales to better reflect the true costs Square pays to its network and payments partners on these transactions"

There have been no fees, nothing has changed wrt to Square's costs as far as we mere mortals can see other wise ALL payment providers would be increasing their fees by 1.5%. What costs, exactly, have suddenly arisen that didn't exist for the past decade that my clients have been doing international transactions?

In fact, now that every financial transaction in the world is both digital and instant, there is no real cost at all, it's just a matter of inventing a charge for making it happen. 

"Occasionally, we update our pricing to better align with the evolving costs Square incurs so that we can continue to invest in our platform, create new features, and expand the value we provide to our Sellers."

The value to a Seller is getting payment digitally transferred for a fee that is low and stable. This is not about $$$ or £££, this is about percentage earnings per transaction.

If you charge 2.5%, that's fine. When you add an extra 1.5%, it doesn't take a genius to understand that you have just increased your revenue arising from OUR business by 60%. That is NOT a reasonable increase. That is greed. It is not justifiable. 

If you need to increase your revenue by a reasonable percentage, no questions are asked. However, if we tried to increase OUR revenues by charging our customers 60% more, we'd be out of business.

You seem to think no-one notices your revenue grab because it's a micro-payment, but you are dealing with people who understand profitability. All your revenue comes from taking small percentages from larger amounts of money. If you increase your fee by 60%, it might be "only £15" LESS  coming to us out of our £1000 of billing per week, but with your customer base it's more like an EXTRA £15 million to you EVERY WEEK - £780 million EXTRA per annum. That's obscene. Nice bonus for the exec who pushed it through, though, at our expense.

Do you understand how we see it? 

[LouisG]

They don't see it cause they don't care, want, or need to. It's brutal. They will milk small business owners dry until we can no longer operate. 

[LouisG]

The only feature Square should be using this new increase is in developing and focusing on helping your customers fight fraudulent chargebacks and other tactics being used to rip off independent businesses due to the lack of security features provided by Square. 

[AAAuctions]

I agree with RGC that a 60% increase is exorbitant and unfortunately despite being a faithful Square customer for many years I  have no choice but to look elsewhere for more reasonable rates. A real shame. And I hear a lot of unrest about this in the UK!