fairfee / compare
CompareSquare is a good product with a real cost: 1.6% in-person, 2.2% online, plus hardware. fairfee is free for the merchant — your customer covers 2% on PayTo, and the money settles to your account the same day.
Square's ecosystem is genuinely polished: point-of-sale, inventory, invoicing, and a clean reader. If you need deep retail inventory management today, Square has it and we won't pretend otherwise.
The cost is the percentage. On $12,000 of monthly card sales, 1.6% is $192 every month — $2,300 a year — plus $65–329 for the reader. And from 1 October 2026, when the RBA bans card surcharges, Australian merchants lose the option of passing that percentage to customers. fairfee's model survives the ban: the 2% PayTo fee is a non-card surcharge, which the RBA does not regulate.
Square settles next business day; weekend sales arrive Monday or Tuesday. fairfee payments settle account-to-account in real time, 24/7 — Friday night trade is in your account on Friday night.
| Side by side | Square | fairfee |
|---|---|---|
| In-person rate | 1.6% | $0 (customer pays 2%) |
| Online rate | 2.2% | $0 (customer pays 2%) |
| You receive on $50 in person | $49.20 | $50.00 |
| Hardware | $65–329 reader | None — free QR |
| Settlement | Next business day | Same day — seconds |
| Chargebacks | Yes | No card chargebacks |
| Surcharge after Oct 1 ban | Banned | 2% — allowed |
| Monthly fee | $0 | $0 |
Competitor rates as published August 2026 — check their websites for current pricing. fairfee is launching soon; join the waitlist for early access.
Join the waitlist and we'll email you the moment your free account is ready. Early members get priority onboarding.