Payment Cost Comparison: Three Worked Examples

The examples below are illustrations, not customer records or promised savings. Use your own payment mix, written fees, and settlement terms to estimate the impact of a proposed gateway change.

The figures are worked examples with the assumptions written out, so you can drop your own volume, method mix and current rate into the same calculation.

Example 1: An Online Clothing Store in Dhaka

Business: A mid-sized online clothing store (monthly online sales ~BDT 15–20 lakh, mix of card 40% + bKash/Nagad 60%).

Challenge: A gateway with a higher blended rate and a T+3 settlement wait, which kept working capital tied up.

What changes after a switch:

Onboarding is a one-time cost, paid once rather than every month.
Compare the blended rate across the payment methods you use against the written offer for your business.
The transaction dashboard answers customer payment queries with the actual bank or wallet response.
A settlement cycle written into the merchant agreement can help with inventory planning.

The arithmetic:

Average monthly processing volume: BDT 18 lakh.
At a blended 2.10%: ~BDT 37,800/month in fees.
At a blended 1.68%: ~BDT 30,240/month in fees.
Monthly savings: ~BDT 7,560.
Annual savings: ~BDT 90,720 — a 20% reduction in gateway costs, which is simply the drop in the blended rate.

Example 2: A Coaching Centre Collecting Tuition Fees

Business: A coaching centre offering tuition and exam prep (monthly fee collections ~BDT 8–12 lakh via digital payments).

Challenge: A high onboarding fee plus a monthly maintenance charge, and a slow settlement cycle that delayed teacher salaries. Fees were tracked by hand, which caused errors.

What changes after a switch:

FEMS (Fee Management System) module for educational institutions, so fee collection is tracked rather than reconciled by hand.
API integration for the website, plus payment links for parents who pay from a phone.
Automated payment notifications and tracking cut down on manual follow-up.

The arithmetic:

Processing volume: BDT 10 lakh/month (mostly MFS).
Before: a one-time onboarding fee, a monthly maintenance charge, and a blended 2.00% on collections — about BDT 20,000/month in fees.
After: onboarding paid once, no monthly maintenance, and a blended 1.60% — about BDT 16,000/month in fees.
Monthly savings: ~BDT 4,000 on fees alone.
First-year savings (including the onboarding difference): roughly BDT 48,000 on fees, plus whatever the old monthly maintenance charge was — comfortably over 20% effective reduction of what the centre used to spend.
Parents get an instant digital receipt, so there is less arguing about whether a fee was paid.

Example 3: An Electronics Retailer Selling High-Value Items

Business: An electronics retailer with an online store (monthly sales ~BDT 25–30 lakh, heavy on cards for higher-value items).

Challenge: A high card rate plus a T+3 settlement wait delayed supplier payments, which limited stock purchases in peak season.

What changes after a switch:

Compare the written card rate with the rate in the previous provider's agreement.
Use the agreed settlement cycle to plan supplier payments.
Built-in fraud tools and 3D Secure on cards, which is where most card disputes start.

The arithmetic:

Volume: BDT 28 lakh/month (50% cards).
At a blended 2.25%: ~BDT 63,000/month in fees.
At a blended 1.80%: ~BDT 50,400/month in fees.
Monthly savings: ~BDT 12,600.
Annual savings: ~BDT 1,51,000 → roughly 20% cut in processing expenses.

Read about: Ultimate Guide to Payment Gateways in Bangladesh

These are illustrations, not customer records. Put your own monthly volume, method mix and current blended rate into the same arithmetic — that is the only version of this calculation that means anything for your business.

Want to calculate your potential savings? Use our fee calculator or join as a merchant to get started. Contact us via WhatsApp for a free consultation!