On small jobs a merchant fee of a dollar or two barely registers. On big install tickets it is a real line item, and many of those payments arrive as deposits or progress payments through an invoice payment link rather than a tap on site. Add commercial and builder work invoiced on account, and a typical electrical business ends up with a card mix that looks nothing like a cafe or a plumber chasing emergencies. The right setup reflects that blend.
Why electricians fees sit where they do
The blended rate lands where it does because electricians straddle two worlds. In-person eftpos and tapped debit on smaller jobs sit at the cheaper end, pulling the average down. But big installs are often paid by credit card or via online payment links, and card-not-present plus premium or international cards push costs up. Your personal blend depends on how often customers tap versus pay an emailed invoice, and how much credit versus debit flows through. A business doing many large card-not-present deposits will see a higher blended rate than one tapping mostly debit.
What to look for in a provider
Look for a provider that handles both an on-site terminal and invoice payment links well, since electricians need both. For large installs, the ability to send a payment link for deposits and progress payments matters as much as the terminal itself. Check how card-not-present transactions are priced, whether surcharging can be applied cleanly on big tickets, and how the system handles part-payments against a single invoice. If a chunk of your turnover is builder or commercial work on account, you want easy invoicing alongside card tools, not a terminal-only plan that ignores the jobs you bill on terms.