Nearly lost a client over a $47 bank fee I missed

I was sitting in my home office in Portland last Tuesday when a regular client called furious about an extra fee on their invoice. Turns out my payment processor added a surcharge for international transfers that I never noticed in the fine print. I had to refund the fee from my own pocket and switch to Wise right then to keep the contract. Has anyone else dealt with surprise payment processor fees sneaking into their invoices?

2 comments

2 Comments

xena122d ago

That exact thing happened to me last spring with a client in Canada. I had no idea my processor was adding 3% for cross-border payments until they flagged it on a $200 invoice. I switched to TransferWise too and haven't looked back since. Did the client forgive you pretty quick after the refund?

adam_adams22d ago

The 3% thing hit me on a $150 payment from a client in Berlin last year and I didn't notice for three months because my invoicing software didn't separate fees clearly. It wasn't until I did my yearly audit that I saw the pattern and realized I'd lost almost $50 total. What nobody talks about is that some processors actually hide these fees in the exchange rate too, not just a line item. I refunded the client the difference plus a little extra and they were cool about it, but it took some trust rebuilding. Nowadays I always send a screenshot of the fee breakdown with my invoices so there's no surprises.