Where cards do come in is vendor marketing and advertising packages, application and admin fees, letting fees and occasional holding deposits. These tend to be high-value but low-volume, a single $3,000 advertising package rather than a stream of small sales. That pattern shapes the merchant pricing that suits an agency and the way surcharging and statement fees should be weighed against transaction count.
Why real estate agencies fees sit where they do
The blended rate is pulled in two directions. High average tickets on marketing packages mean fixed per-transaction components matter less, which can help. But vendors and applicants often pay with premium or rewards credit cards rather than eftpos, and that mix lifts interchange and the blended percentage. Low monthly volume also means fixed terminal rental and minimum monthly fees weigh more heavily on each dollar processed. Whether you absorb or pass on those costs, and your provider's pricing model, ultimately decide where an individual agency lands.
What to look for in a provider
Because card volume is low and ticket sizes are high, look closely at how a provider handles fixed costs: terminal rental, minimum monthly fees and any per-transaction flat components can dominate when you only process a handful of payments. Surcharging or cost-recovery features matter if you intend to pass marketing and admin card costs back to vendors and applicants, within Australian surcharging rules. Equally important is keeping merchant settlements cleanly separate from your statutory trust account, so card income and trust money never mingle. Consider whether you need integrated invoicing, a virtual terminal for phone payments, or links to your trust accounting and CRM software rather than just a countertop terminal.