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What Does a 1% Saving in Fees Actually Mean? (Spoiler: It Compounds)

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Trustap Checkout is our ecommerce solution for Shopify, built to handle your card payments seamlessly. If you’ve read our previous blogs, you’re likely familiar with the Trustap ATC (Actual Transaction Cost) model. If not, here is a quick breakdown.

Many merchants assume their basic payment processing fee is their total cost. It rarely is. To give you the full picture, we calculate your true ATC by auditing the hidden fees eating into your margins, including:

  • Foreign exchange (FX) markup fees
  • Non-refundable fees lost on customer returns
  • International card surcharges

Once we analyse your setup, we deliver a transparent, all-in pricing structure tailored specifically to your business. This pricing is a flat fee that can help you budget and forecast more easily.

Is a 1% Saving Really Worth the Switch?

We regularly save merchants between 0.5% and 4% per transaction.

At first glance, saving under 1% might sound small. You might wonder if it’s worth switching payment processors for a fraction of a percent. But think of it this way: If you could save 1% on your mortgage rate today, would you switch providers? Absolutely.

When applied to volume, a 1% shift is massive.

Let’s Look at the Numbers

Imagine an online retailer called Hiking Central that processed $1,000,000 in GMV last year.

  • Their starting ATC: 4.3% ($43,000 spent on transaction fees)
  • Their ATC with Trustap: 3.5% (a modest 0.8% saving)
  • Their new fee total: $35,000

That simple 0.8% difference hands Hiking Central $8,000 in pure profit straight to their bottom line.

To put that $8,000 in perspective:

Assuming Hiking Central operates on a 10% profit margin with an Average Order Value (AOV) of $50, generating that same $8,000 profit through sales would require:

  • $80,000 in extra top-line revenue
  • 1,600 additional customer orders

That means switching processors delivers the same profit impact as finding 1,600 new customers.

The Compounding Effect

The real power of fee optimisation comes over time. If Hiking Central grows at 20% year-over-year, that single 0.8% saving compounds to add nearly $60,000 directly to their bottom line over 5 years.

To match that impact through traditional sales, Hiking Central would need to generate roughly $600,000 in extra revenue or secure nearly 12,000 new orders.

By switching to Trustap, that money stays where it belongs: in your business, boosting your bottom line with zero extra effort.

Ready to See Your Real Savings?

Curious about what hidden fees are costing you? Use our ATC Calculator for a quick estimate, or connect with our expert team today to discover how much profit you can unlock.

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