How Brands Actually Pay Creators: PayPal, ACH, Wire, and What Each One Costs You

You've done the stream, sent the invoice, and the brand says it's "processing." The next question is one most creators only ask after the fact: how is the money going to arrive, and how much of it will be left when it does?

The answer depends almost entirely on one line of your invoice — the "pay to" line. Whatever rail you put there is the rail the brand will use, and the fee difference between rails on the same deal is bigger than most people expect. This page walks through the ones you'll actually see, with real numbers from each provider's own pricing page.

One thing up front: the brand pays you, directly. Whatever rail you choose, the money moves from the brand's account to yours. A tool that tracks your invoices (Sponsee included) doesn't sit in the middle of that.

The short version, on a $2,000 deal

Same $2,000 sponsorship invoice, paid six different ways. "You lose" is the processor's fee to receive it, from each provider's published US pricing as of 2026-10-04.

How the brand pays	What you lose	You keep	Source
PayPal invoice, brand pays by card	2.99% + $0.49 = $60.29	$1,939.71	PayPal1
PayPal invoice, brand pays from a PayPal balance/checkout	3.49% + $0.49 = $70.29	$1,929.71	PayPal1
PayPal invoice, brand uses Pay by Bank (ACH)	1%, capped at $10 = $10.00	$1,990.00	PayPal1
Stripe invoice, brand pays by card	2.9% + $0.30, plus 0.4% Invoicing = $66.30	$1,933.70	Stripe23
Stripe invoice, brand pays by ACH Direct Debit	0.8% capped at $5, plus 0.4% Invoicing = $13.00	$1,987.00	Stripe23
Brand sends a USD wire to your Wise account	$6.11 flat	$1,993.89	Wise4

Two things jump out. First, card is the expensive way to get paid — on a $2,000 deal it costs roughly five to seven times what a bank transfer through the same provider does. Second, the caps matter more as deals get bigger. PayPal's Pay by Bank and Stripe's ACH fees stop growing at $10 and $5. On a $5,000 deal, a card payment through PayPal would cost $149.99; Pay by Bank still costs $10.

What's not in the table: a plain ACH or wire straight to your own bank account. That's often the cheapest of all, but the fee (if any) is set by your bank, not a published processor rate, so there's no single number to print. Look up "incoming wire fee" and "incoming ACH" on your bank's fee schedule — it takes two minutes.

The rails, one at a time

ACH (bank transfer)

ACH is the US bank-to-bank network — it's how payroll direct deposit works, and it's how most brand accounts-payable teams prefer to pay, because it's cheap on their side too. You give the brand your bank's routing number and your account number; they push the money.

Speed: Nacha, the organization that runs the ACH Network, says ACH credits "can settle the same day, the next banking day, or in two banking days," and estimates 80% of all ACH payments settle in one banking day or less.⁵ In practice the slow part is rarely the network — it's the brand's AP payment run (often weekly or twice a month), which happens before the transfer starts.

Cost to you: usually set by your bank. Through a processor, it's PayPal's 1% (max $10) or Stripe's 0.8% (max $5, plus Stripe's invoicing fee if you send the invoice through Stripe).¹²

Good for: most US brands, most deal sizes. If a brand's AP team asks how you'd like to be paid, this is the default answer.

Wire transfer

A wire moves money between banks individually rather than in a batch. For domestic US wires, the Federal Reserve's Fedwire service is built for "same-day transactions," and payments are final once credited.⁶

Cost to you: your bank's incoming wire fee (check its fee schedule), or a fixed fee through a receiving account — Wise lists $6.11 per incoming USD wire or Swift payment.⁴ The brand usually also pays an outgoing wire fee on its side, which is one reason some AP teams push back on wires for smaller invoices.

Good for: larger deals, brands that only pay by wire, and international brands paying in US dollars.

PayPal

PayPal is the most common thing creators put on an invoice, and it's convenient — brands know it, and the money shows up in your PayPal balance right away. It is also, paid by card, one of the more expensive options on the table above.

What matters is how the brand pays a PayPal invoice. On PayPal's US fee page, an invoice paid by card costs you 2.99% + $0.49; paid through PayPal checkout or Venmo it's 3.49% + $0.49; paid with Pay by Bank (ACH) it's 1%, capped at $10 per transaction.¹ If the brand is outside the US, PayPal adds 1.50% for international invoicing transactions on top of the domestic rate, and a currency conversion carries its own spread (3.00% for most transactions, per the same page).¹

Getting it out of PayPal is free if you take a standard transfer to your linked bank account; an instant transfer costs 1.50% of the amount (minimum $0.50).¹

One clause to know: on PayPal's fee page, if you refund an invoicing payment, "the fees you originally paid to receive the payment are not returned to you."¹ If a deal gets cancelled after payment and you refund it, the fee is gone.

Good for: small deals, brands that won't do bank transfers, and international brands where a wire would cost more than the PayPal fee. If you list PayPal, say "PayPal (Pay by Bank preferred)" on the invoice — it costs the brand nothing to choose it.

Stripe invoices

Some creators bill through Stripe, which gives the brand a hosted invoice page with a card or bank payment option. Stripe's standard pricing lists 2.9% + 30¢ for domestic cards, +1.5% for international cards, +1% if currency conversion is required, and 0.8% capped at $5.00 for ACH Direct Debit.² Stripe Invoicing adds 0.4% per paid invoice on its Starter plan.³

Good for: creators who send enough invoices that a payment page and automatic receipts are worth it. If you go this route, turn off card payments for large invoices or make ACH the default — card fees on a $5,000 deal add up fast.

Wise (for international brands)

When a brand in another country pays you, the costly part is usually the currency conversion and the international wire, not the processor's headline fee. Wise gives you local account details in 22 currencies, and lists receiving domestic (non-wire) payments into those accounts as free, with fixed fees for incoming wire and Swift payments — $6.11 for USD, £2.16 for GBP, €2.39 for EUR.⁴ For a UK brand paying in pounds, giving them GBP account details means they make a domestic UK transfer and you choose when to convert.

Good for: non-US brands, especially recurring ones.

What the brand's side looks like (and why it's slow)

The rail you pick changes the fee. It rarely changes the wait. Brands, especially ones that pay through an agency or a large AP department, usually pay in batches on a fixed schedule against an approved vendor record. Before your first payment, that often means:

• A vendor form or W-9 (or W-8BEN for non-US creators). Until it's on file, many AP systems won't release payment at all.
• Your banking details entered and verified. A typo here bounces the payment and restarts the clock.
• The invoice matched to a PO or contract. If your invoice doesn't reference what they need, it sits in a queue.

None of that shows up as a processor fee, but it's where most of the time goes. That's the same pattern behind most late creator payments, and it's why your payment terms start from the invoice date, not from when they get around to setting you up.

Put the cheap option on your invoice

The brand pays whichever way your invoice makes easiest. So make the cheap way the easy one:

1. List bank transfer (ACH) first, with your routing and account numbers ready to send on request (or included, if you're comfortable with that).
2. List a fallback — PayPal with "Pay by Bank preferred," or Wise details for international brands.
3. Say who pays wire fees if you accept wires ("wire fees on sender").
4. Put your legal name on the payment line, matching the W-9 you'll send. A mismatch between the invoice name and the account name is a common reason AP holds a payment.

The sponsorship invoice template has a "pay to" line already set up for this, and the rate card template carries your payment terms at the bottom so the brand sees them before the deal starts.

FAQ

How do brands usually pay creators for sponsorships?
Most US brands pay by bank transfer (ACH) or wire through their accounts-payable process. PayPal is common for smaller deals and smaller brands. International brands often pay by wire, PayPal, or a local transfer into an account like Wise. The rail usually follows whatever you put on your invoice.

What is the cheapest way to get paid for a brand deal?
A direct ACH transfer to your own bank account is usually the cheapest; the cost, if any, is set by your bank. Through a processor, ACH options are much cheaper than card payments: PayPal's Pay by Bank is 1% capped at $10, and Stripe's ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% capped at $5, versus roughly 3% plus a fixed fee for card payments (provider pricing as of 2026-10-04).

How much does PayPal take from a sponsorship payment?
Per PayPal's US fee page as of 2026-10-04, an invoice paid by card costs 2.99% + $0.49, one paid through PayPal checkout costs 3.49% + $0.49, and one paid with Pay by Bank (ACH) costs 1% capped at $10. International payments add 1.50%. On a $2,000 card payment, that's $60.29.

How long does it take to receive a brand deal payment?
The transfer itself is fast: Nacha says most ACH payments settle in one banking day or less, and domestic wires are same-day. The delay is usually the brand's payment schedule and vendor setup — net terms, the AP payment run, and whether your W-9 and banking details are on file.

Should I accept credit card payments for sponsorships?
You can, but on a large invoice it's the most expensive option for you. If you offer a card option, make bank transfer the default and consider limiting card to small invoices.