Where to find it
- Have the merchant sign in to the Square Dashboard at squareup.com/dashboard (a computer is easier than the app).
- Go to Reports → Sales Summary and set the date range to a full month. Note Total Card Sales (their card volume) and Fees.
- For the fee detail, open Reports → Fees (or the Card Processing Fees report) and export the month to CSV/PDF.
- On the mobile app it's under ≡ More → Reports. Grab a clean, full month so the numbers are comparable.
How to read it — find the effective rate
Square bills simple flat rates, so there's no interchange breakdown to dig through. That makes the effective rate easy to calculate:
Example: $1,350 in fees on $45,000 of card volume = 3.0% effective. Most Square sellers land between 2.7% and 3.5% all-in.
For reference, Square's standard published rates:
| How the card is taken | Standard rate |
|---|---|
| Tap, dip or swipe (in person) | 2.6% + 10¢ |
| Online, invoices & eCommerce | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Keyed / card-on-file | 3.5% + 15¢ |
| Instant transfer (to move money fast) | 1.75% |
Where we win
- Nothing offsets the fee. Square has no real dual-pricing or surcharge program — the merchant eats 100% of the cost. Our dual pricing can take it to near zero.
- The per-transaction cents add up. That 10¢/30¢ per sale crushes low-ticket, high-count businesses (cafes, quick service, retail).
- Stacking subscriptions. Plus/Premium plans, add-on apps and the 1.75% instant-transfer fee quietly raise the all-in cost.
- Held funds & reserves. Square can freeze deposits with little warning — we offer stable banking and a real account rep.
What to say
Talk-track: "Square looks simple because it's one flat number — but that's exactly the problem: there's nothing offsetting it. Let me total your fees against your volume to get your real effective rate, then show you what dual pricing takes that to."
Then drop the numbers into the Statement Rate Analyzer to build the beat-or-match proposal.
Square's published rates and dashboard layout change from time to time — confirm the current standard rates before quoting. This guide is an internal reference for reading a prospect's existing Square account, not a NextPay price sheet.