Letting clients pay by credit card is convenient — but cards come with processing fees, and refunds on card payments have a wrinkle that surprises a lot of contractors the first time they hit it. This article walks through how the fee pass-through works, exactly what your client sees before they pay, and what your options are if a client asks for their money back.
The short version up front: when a card payment is refunded, the card processor doesn’t return the processing fees. Your client gets every dollar back, but the fees come out of your pocket. That’s not an Eano policy — it’s how credit card processing works across the industry. The best protection is making sure clients pick the right payment method before they pay, and Eano is built to help with exactly that.
How the Credit Card Fee Pass-Through Works
Credit card processors charge roughly 3% to move money. On a small invoice that’s pocket change; on a $25,000 deposit it’s real money. When you create an invoice in Eano, you’ll see a toggle called Client Credit Card Fees. Turn it on, and the processing fee is added to the total for clients who choose to pay by card — so you receive the full invoice amount either way.
Here’s how the math works:
Credit card payments carry a fee of roughly 3%. There’s a subtlety here: the added fee gets processed by the card networks too, so Eano does the algebra for you — the pass-through amount is calculated so that you net your full invoice exactly. Neither you nor your client ever has to work it out: the precise dollar amount is computed and shown before anyone pays.
ACH bank transfers add nothing for your client, and your own cost is a small fee that’s capped — on a large deposit it comes to a few dollars, versus hundreds by card. That’s a big part of why ACH is the recommended option for large payments.
Check payments carry no processing fee for either side.
A couple of fine points:
The pass-through fee only applies if your client actually pays by card. If they pay by ACH or check, nothing is added.
On partial payments, the card processing fee is absorbed by you rather than passed on — keep that in mind if you’re splitting a large invoice into pieces.
What Your Client Sees Before Paying
A common worry — usually raised right after a client says “I didn’t see any fee!” — is whether the fee is hidden. It isn’t. With the pass-through turned on, your client sees the fee spelled out before any money moves:
On the invoice itself. The invoice summary shows a Credit Card Fee line with the dollar amount, and a note below the totals: “Please note, if paying by credit card, we charge additional processing fees. For this invoice, fees to pay by credit card would be [the exact amount]. No additional fees apply if paying by check or electronic funds transfer.”
When choosing how to pay. The payment screen presents the options side by side — ACH is marked Recommended (“one of the fastest and most secure options for large payments”) and carries no added fee, while the card option shows the fee it adds.
At the final step. Before the card payment is confirmed, the grand total — invoice amount plus the card fee — is displayed one more time.
So if a dispute ever comes down to “was the fee disclosed?”, the answer is yes, in writing, three times. That matters more than you might think — more on disputes below.
If a Client Pays by Card and Regrets It
It happens: a client means to pay the deposit by ACH, pays by card instead, and only registers the fee after the payment goes through. Here’s what you should know before deciding what to do.
A refund makes your client whole, but not you. Refunds are processed through your Stripe account (log in at stripe.com — Eano doesn’t have a refund button, by design, because of exactly this wrinkle). When you refund a card payment, your client gets the full amount back, including the fee they paid. But Stripe doesn’t return the processing fees to you. On a big deposit, that can mean eating hundreds of dollars to undo an accidental click. This isn’t unique to Stripe or Eano — Square and the other major processors work the same way. The card networks are the only winners in a refund.
Refunds take a little time to appear. Once issued, a credit card refund typically takes 5–10 business days to show up on your client’s statement, depending on their bank.
Don’t collect twice. If the plan is “refund the card payment, then re-pay by ACH,” do it in that order. Until you’ve actually issued the refund (or lost a dispute), the card payment is yours — collecting an ACH payment on top of it would be double billing.
You have options short of a full refund. Many contractors land on a middle path: keep the payment, and offer the client a credit toward the project to soften the unexpected fee. That keeps everyone reasonably whole without anyone eating the full processing cost.
If a Client Disputes the Charge Instead
Sometimes a client skips the conversation and goes straight to their card company. Here’s how that plays out:
You’ll know right away. Stripe notifies you by email (and in your Stripe dashboard) when a dispute is opened on your account.
The money goes into limbo. While the dispute is open, the disputed amount is pulled from your balance and held so it can be returned if you lose — it’s not available to pay out.
Disputes carry their own fees. Stripe charges $15 when a dispute is filed, and that one isn’t returned even if you win. Choosing to fight the dispute costs another $15, which is refunded if you win outright.
You submit evidence, the client’s bank decides. Depending on the card network, you usually have somewhere between one and three weeks to respond — so it’s not a drop-everything emergency, but don’t sit on it, because missing the deadline means losing automatically. You upload your evidence — the signed contract, the invoice showing the fee disclosure, the payment confirmation — and the client’s card company makes the final call, which can take up to a few months.
If you win, it’s done. The money is yours again, and your client can’t dispute the same charge a second time. If you lose, the payment is returned to the client.
Because the fee is disclosed in writing at multiple steps, contractors are generally in a strong position in fee-related disputes. If you find yourself facing one, reach out to us — we’re happy to help you put the evidence together.
Heading This Off Before It Happens
A two-minute conversation beats all of the above. When you send a large invoice — especially a deposit from a brand-new client:
Tell the client which payment method you’d prefer. Most clients pay large invoices by ACH; a quick “the bank transfer option avoids the card fee” in your message sets expectations.
Leave the fee note on. The invoice’s credit card fee note is your written disclosure. It costs nothing and it’s the evidence that protects you later.
Watch the first payment land. If a new client pays by card unexpectedly, you’ll see it — and you can have the refund-and-fees conversation while the details are fresh, instead of weeks later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I refund a payment from inside Eano? No — refunds are issued through your Stripe account directly. Log in at stripe.com, find the payment, and refund it there.
If I refund a card payment, does my client get the credit card fee back? Yes. The client receives the full amount they paid, fee included. The processing fees just aren’t returned to you.
Why doesn’t Stripe return the processing fees on a refund? The card networks charge those fees to move the money, and moving it back doesn’t undo that cost. This is standard across the industry — you’d hit the same policy with any major processor.
My client says they never saw the fee. Is that possible? The fee is shown on the invoice (as a line item and a written note), on the payment method selection screen, and in the grand total before the card payment is confirmed. It’s there — but a client moving quickly can certainly click past it, which is why a heads-up conversation on big invoices is worth the time.
Does the client pay a fee for ACH or check payments? No. The pass-through fee only applies to credit card payments. ACH carries a small capped fee on your side, and checks are free for everyone.
How much is the credit card fee? Roughly 3% of the total. The exact dollar amount for any given invoice is calculated automatically and shown on the invoice itself — and with the pass-through on, it’s worked out so you receive your full invoice amount after all processing costs.
Does it cost anything if a client disputes a charge? Yes — Stripe charges $15 when the dispute is filed (not returned even if you win), and another $15 if you choose to fight it (returned if you win). One more reason a conversation beats a chargeback.
What happens to the money during a dispute? It’s held while the dispute is open — you can’t pay it out, and the client doesn’t have it back. Once the card company decides, the money goes to whoever won.