Most contractor software treats credit cards as the default way to collect online payments. That is convenient for the customer, but expensive for the contractor. On a $10,000 invoice, standard card processing at 2.9% plus 30 cents is about $290 before any platform fee.
Conduit is built around the invoice flow contractors already use: send the invoice, let the customer open a secure payment link, and give them a lower-cost ACH bank-transfer option. With ACH, the same $10,000 invoice costs $6 using the fixed math behind Conduit payments: $1 from Conduit plus Stripe ACH at 0.8%, capped at $5.
The math matters on real contractor invoices
A few dollars does not matter much on a small deposit. It matters a lot on final invoices, progress payments, and commercial jobs where one invoice can be $5,000, $10,000, or more.
For a $10,000 invoice:
- Card processing is about $290 at 2.9% plus 30 cents, excluding Conduit’s 1% platform fee.
- ACH is $6 total: $1 from Conduit plus Stripe ACH capped at $5.
- The difference is about $284 on one invoice before considering the card platform fee.
That money stays in the job instead of disappearing as payment overhead.
Customers still get a simple payment link
Lower fees should not mean a clumsy customer experience. Conduit invoices can be sent by text or email, and the customer can pay from the link without downloading an app or creating a portal login.
The point is not to remove cards entirely. Some customers will still prefer a card. The point is to make ACH visible and easy so contractors are not forced into a ~3% fee every time they want online payment convenience.
Built into the job-to-invoice workflow
Payments sit inside the same system as bids, jobs, invoices, scheduling, and project work. A contractor can move from completed work to invoice delivery to payment collection without stitching together a separate payment tool.
That makes the payment fee savings practical: the lower-cost option is part of the normal invoice workflow, not another system someone has to remember to use.
Compare payment impact while switching tools
If you are comparing field-service platforms, review both software subscription cost and collection cost. Start with the side-by-side comparisons for Jobber, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, and FieldPulse, or use the migration guides for switching from Jobber, switching from ServiceTitan, switching from Housecall Pro, and switching from FieldPulse.