Crowdfunding platform PledgeMe announced on Wednesday it is making a few changes to its credit card fees. The portal revealed the fee charged to campaign creators is going from up to 7.5% to a flat fee of 6.5%. It will also provide tiered CrowdfundingU programs for equity and lending campaigns. The fee changes will go into effect on April 1st.
While sharing more details about the fee changes, Pledge reported that if backers choose to pledge with their credit card, they will be charged the credit card fee. If they want to avoid the fees, they can choose direct deposit. The tiered pricing for CrowdfundingU will also give earlier stage companies and organization access to it for less. Those that launch campaigns before April 1st will be under the platform’s old pricing.
If campaign organizers launch before April 1st, fees are as follows:
Project Campaign:
- 5% Success Fee (GST included)
- Up to 2.5% + 25c per transaction for credit cards
Equity Campaign:
- $1,500 + GST for CrowdfundingU
- 5% (zero rated) success fee
- Up to 2.5% + 25c per transaction for credit card fees
Lending Campaign:
- $1,500 + GST for CrowdfundingU
- 4% (zero rated) success fee
- Up to 2.5% + 25c per transaction for credit card fees.
If campaign organizers launch after April 1st, the fees will go as follows:
Project Campaign:
- 6.5% success fee (GST included)
- No credit card fees (these will be paid by your pledger if incurred).
Equity Campaign:
- $750 (campaigns under $100,000) or $3,000 + GST (campaigns over $100,000) for CrowdfundingU (could be half funded by capability vouchers)
- 6.5% (zero rated) success fee.
- No credit card fees (these will be paid by your pledger if incurred).
Lending Campaign:
- $750 (campaigns under $100,000) or $3,000 + GST (campaigns over $100,000) for CrowdfundingU (could be half funded by capability vouchers)
- 5.5% (zero rated) success fee.
- No credit card fees (these will be paid by your pledger if incurred).
Noting what this all means for pledgers, PledgeMe noted:
“You can either choose to direct deposit your pledge after a campaign closes, or pay on your credit card. If you choose to use your credit card, the fees associated with using your card will be added on top of your pledge total. These fees are currently 2.5% of the total, and 25c per transaction attempt.”
In regards to the 1% repayment fee on lending campaigns, the portal added:
“This hasn’t changed, you will still be charged 1% of the principal amount as repayments are made.”