Skip to main content

Airwallex

Credit Card Processing​

If you invoice someone for $1000 inc/exc GST.

Then a processing surcharge is applied to it.

The end customer is charged for $1000 plus processing surcharge.

Airwallex however charges:

  • Gateway Fee: $0.30 inc GST for every payment attempt.
  • Payment Method Fee: 1.5% exc GST on the collected amount.

For example:

  • Invoice: $1000
  • GST: 0.1 * 1000 = $100
  • Processing Surcharge of 1.55% = $17.05

The total collected amount is: 1000 + 100 + 17.05 = $1117.05

Airwallex will then charge:

  • 0.30 inc GST
  • 1.5% of 1117.05 plus GST of 0.1 * (1.5% of 1117.05) = 16.75575 + 1.675575 = 18.431325

A total fee of: $18.731325 inc GST.

This means that your $17.05 additional processing surcharge is attempting to offset the $18.731325 inc GST.

Because the underlying amount had GST, then $17.05 processing surcharge also has GST.

So when accounting this, you have to say an additional income of $17.05 inc GST and a merchant processing fee of $18.731325 inc GST.

This means even with a 1.55% surcharge fee, you're not completely offsetting the cost of processing the transaction.

However this is close enough, sine it would impossible to be able to equally offset due to the gateway fee.

Take note that the gateway fee is charged on every attempt, so if the customer tries 100 times, you are paying 100 gateway fees. This is pretty crazy.

In that sense, offering extra gateways that might not work might not be worth it.