Fee policy

Apex charges three fees on the Partner Network. All three are editable by the Apex team — you see your current rates in the dashboard + can negotiate custom rates for enterprise volume.

The fees

Fee kind	Default	When it's charged
`facilitation_payout`	0.25% + $0.50 per payout	Every Stripe transfer from your balance to a partner. Second transfer (same batch) moves the fee to Apex's Connect account.
`identity_verification`	$2.50 flat per check	Once per partner when they complete Stripe Identity. Passed to the partner's Stripe Express account — not to your merchant account.
`instant_payout`	1.0% + $0.50	When a partner elects instant payout (funds in minutes instead of standard ACH)

Where to see your current rate

Dashboard: /dashboard/partners/stripe-connect shows a "Your fees" card with all three rates. Any enterprise override is tagged with a Custom badge.

SDK:

const { fees } = await apex.getEffectiveFees();
// {
//   facilitation_payout: { bps: 25, flatUsd: 0.5, source: "platform_default", isCustom: false },
//   identity_verification: { flatUsd: 2.5, source: "platform_default", isCustom: false },
//   instant_payout: { bps: 100, flatUsd: 0.5, source: "platform_default", isCustom: false },
// }

Fee resolution order

Per fee kind, the resolver picks the highest-priority match:

Merchant override — explicit per-merchant rate (enterprise deals)
Platform default — the global default everyone gets
Hardcoded fallback — baked into code; used if no policy records exist

source field tells you which level hit. A merchant-override rate shows source: "merchant_override" and isCustom: true.

When you approve a payout, the fee resolved at that moment is snapshotted on the HoldbackEntry. Admin edits to the platform fee after approval don't change what you owe on already-approved commissions.

This gives you:

Deterministic per-payout fees — if a partner gets approved on Monday at 25 bps and you negotiate to 15 bps on Tuesday, Monday's batch still uses 25 bps.
Audit clarity — the fee on every batch is explainable from the entry's record.

Enterprise pricing

Volume merchants (typically $100K+/month in partner payouts) can negotiate reduced rates. Reach out to sales@apex.inc — we'll set up a merchant scope override that applies just to your project.

Overrides propagate within 60 seconds (in-memory cache TTL). No SDK / dashboard rework needed — the resolver handles it transparently.

Adding a new fee kind

The FeeKind type is an enum. Apex adds new ones (e.g. for additional connectors, new payout rails) over time. The admin UI auto-renders every FeeKind once it's added — no dashboard updates needed.

Facilitated payouts — where the fee fires
Approving payouts
Stripe Connect setup