As of December 14, 2022, HoneyBook has updated card transaction fees, lowering fees on the majority of transactions so you can accept fast, simple, and secure payments at some of the most competitive rates on the market.

Moving away from a flat 3% processing fee will also help us expand the ways clients can pay you—just one more way we’re making HoneyBook the best place for independent professionals to do business.

In this article, we'll review:

As of December 14, 2022, fees will be determined based on the type of payment transaction. “Cardholder Entered” payments will be charged at 2.9% + 25c, while “Card on File payments” will be charged at 3.4% + 9c.

The 1.5% rate for ACH payments is not changing.

The percentages will be based on the amount of the payment being made, and the additional values (9 cents and 25 cents respectively) will be added per transaction.

These new transaction fees, broken out by transaction type, will be some of the most competitive in the market, including major payment service providers like Stripe, PayPal, and Square.

Bear in mind that, though there are changes, there will be no hidden fees:

Check out the video below for a quick breakdown of the processing fees and whether your business can pass those fees on to your clients.

Similar to other payment service providers, we have moved to a set of fees that are both a percentage of the transaction and a flat fee, based on how the transaction is made.

Cardholder Entered payments: payments where the card is either being entered for the first time, or entered again manually (e.g. entering a new card, making a one-off transaction, etc.)

Card on File payments: payments made with a card that has been securely stored from a previous transaction. This includes payments made via autopay, which leverages Card on File payment processing.

ACH payments: payments by which clients link a checking account to move funds directly from their bank account to yours. This is also known as a “bank transfer.” The 1.5% rate for ACH payments has not changed.

PLEASE NOTE: the ACH fee does NOT apply to moving money from your HoneyBook account to your bank account—there is no fee associated with that process.

Instant deposit: To get paid even faster, we also offer instant deposits with a 1% additional fee—one of the lowest rates on the market. This feature allows you to transfer funds from completed card payments to your debit card in minutes.

PLEASE NOTE:The 1% fee is in addition to the card transaction fee, determined based on the transaction types detailed above.

We have changed our card rates to be more closely aligned to industry standards of payment service providers (PSPs), where competitive market rates are based on transaction type.

For over eight years, HoneyBook maintained a flat 3% transaction fee for all credit and debit card payments. In that time, we continued to build more functionality, flexibility, and security into the way we help our members get paid. And, as we strive towards building an increasingly robust set of financial tools with our own in-house payment processor and additional payment services, we understand the need to keep up with the growing payment provider market. That being the case, we determined that the flat fee structure was limiting the kind of payment offerings we could provide.

With our new fee structure, we're not only lowering the fees for the majority of card payments that occur on HoneyBook, but also ensuring we can continue to be competitive in the market with both the rates and functionality we offer.

This new fee structure allows more pricing transparency, a seamless workflow experience, and lower fees than most providers on the market.

ACH payments have not changed and will still incur a flat fee of 1.5%.

PLEASE NOTE: ACH payments take 7-8 business days to receive in your bank account, while card payments take 2-3 business days to receive.

As of December 14, 2022, you will be able to view and download your monthly and yearly payment & fees summaries from the Reports tool. You’ll also see your rates reflected in your Settings and in your Payments tool.

When this change takes effect on December 14, 2022, you may have some invoices that you’ve already sent or that are already in progress. For more information on invoices using autopay, skip to the next section. Otherwise, here’s how this change is affecting live invoices:

Sent invoice with no payments made

If all card payments will be made on or after December 14, 2022, all payments for this invoice will incur the updated fees (regardless of payments’ original due dates).

Sent invoice with all payments made

If all card payments were made before December 14, 2022, all payments for this invoice will incur the original 3% processing fee.

Sent invoice with some payments made

Any card payment made before December 14, 2022 incurred the original 3% processing fee, while any card payment made on or after December 14, 2022 will incur the updated fees (regardless of payments’ original due dates).

PLEASE NOTE: in this case, you may see invoices with payments that have incurred different fees.

When an invoice is set to autopay (which leverages Card on File payment processing), the initial payment, in which the client enters their card information, will incur the Cardholder Entered fee of 2.9% + 25c. Since the card will remain on file for subsequent automatic payments, all future autopay transactions will incur the Card of File fee of 3.4% + 9c per payment.

If the client returns to the invoice to re-enter or update their card information for an upcoming payment, that payment will be considered Cardholder Entered and will incur the fee of 2.9% + 25c.

Head to our blog to learn even more about our new fees!

Still have questions? Head to our Help Center, or send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!