Merchants who use a payment processor other than Shopify's own payments product will be charged additional transaction fees by Shopify on top of the fees charged by their chosen payment processor.
Merchants who choose payment processors other than Shopify Payments pay an additional transaction fee on every sale — which can range from 0.5% to 2% depending on their plan — effectively penalizing merchants for not using Shopify's proprietary payment product.
Cross-platform context
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Compare across platforms →Shopify's transaction fee structure creates a financial incentive to use Shopify Payments exclusively — merchants who prefer competing payment processors face a meaningful cost penalty that can significantly increase their overall cost of sale.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: The additional transaction fee imposed on merchants using competing payment processors raises potential antitrust concerns under Section 2 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. §2) and analogous EU competition law (TFEU Article 102) where Shopify holds sufficient market power in the e-commerce platform market. The CFPB has jurisdiction over Shopify Payments as a payment service provider and may review whether transaction fee structures constitute unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) under Dodd-Frank §1031. PCI DSS compliance requirements apply to all payment data handled through Shopify Payments.
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