Troop CampfireWhen a family pays their balance online, or anyone pays through one of your QR codes, the payment goes through Stripe. Each payment has one processing fee, taken out before the money reaches your unit's bank account. There is no monthly fee, no setup fee and no charge to connect Stripe. Cash and checks you record by hand cost nothing.
The rates
- Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay: 3.4% plus 30 cents per payment. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover all cost the same.
- Bank transfer (ACH): 1.3% per payment, with no 30 cents. Above $625 the fee is $5 plus 0.5% of the payment, so a $1,000 payment costs $10.00 rather than $13.00.
The payer picks card or bank on the Stripe payment page. A bank transfer takes 4 to 5 business days to clear, and shows as pending on the family's register until it does. Cards issued outside the US cost an extra 1.5%, which Stripe adds.
What your unit receives
When the unit pays the fee, it comes out of the payment:
| Payment | Card fee | You receive | Bank fee | You receive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $0.64 | $9.36 | $0.13 | $9.87 |
| $20.00 | $0.98 | $19.02 | $0.26 | $19.74 |
| $50.00 | $2.00 | $48.00 | $0.65 | $49.35 |
| $100.00 | $3.70 | $96.30 | $1.30 | $98.70 |
| $250.00 | $8.80 | $241.20 | $3.25 | $246.75 |
| $1,000.00 | $34.30 | $965.70 | $10.00 | $990.00 |
Who pays the fee
A treasurer chooses under Account Settings → Organization → Finance Settings:
- Troop absorbs fees: families pay exactly what they owe, and the fee comes out of what the unit receives, as in the table above.
- Family pays fees: the fee is added to the payment, so the unit receives the full amount owed.
- Family chooses at checkout: the family sees a pre-checked Help cover processing costs box and can leave it on or turn it off.
When the family covers the fee, the amount added is a little more than 3.4% plus 30 cents of what they owe, because the fee also applies to the part that covers it. Campfire works out the exact charge that leaves the unit with the full amount:
| Amount owed | Family pays | Fee added |
|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $10.67 | $0.67 |
| $20.00 | $21.02 | $1.02 |
| $50.00 | $52.08 | $2.08 |
| $100.00 | $103.84 | $3.84 |
| $250.00 | $259.11 | $9.11 |
The payment screen shows the family the total before they leave for Stripe. The amount added is always worked out at the card rate, because the family picks card or bank afterward on the Stripe page. If they then pay by bank, the fee is smaller and the difference stays with the unit: a family covering a $100.00 balance by bank pays $103.84 and the unit receives $102.49.
QR codes have the same three choices (Troop pays, Buyer pays, Buyer chooses), set on each code. The 30 cents applies once per payment, not per item, so a buyer paying for three items at once pays it once.
Refunds
Refunds are made from your Stripe dashboard, reached with Manage Stripe in Finance Settings. The processing fee is not returned when you refund a payment, so refunding a $100.00 card payment in full sends $100.00 back to the payer and the unit is out the $3.70 fee. Campfire posts that cost to the ledger as Processing fee kept on a refunded payment.
Disputes and failed bank payments
If a payer disputes a charge with their card company or bank, Stripe takes the disputed amount back plus a $15.00 dispute fee, and returns both if the unit wins. A bank transfer that fails, for example because the account has too little money, costs $4.00. Stripe sets these two fees. Campfire records disputes in the ledger automatically.
Seeing the fee on each payment
Each online payment on a family's register shows the fee that was taken out, and the fee also posts to the unit ledger as a bank-fee expense the day the payment settles. Stripe pays out daily by default, about two business days after a card payment, so each bank deposit is already net of fees. Family finances explains how to match deposits to payments.