# Collect application fees

Charge merchants a transaction fee for payments through your platform.

## Collect fees

As a platform, you can charge your connected accounts a portion of each transaction in the form of application fees. You can set application fee pricing in the following ways:

- Use the [Platform Pricing Tool](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/platform-pricing-tools.md) to set and test pricing rules. This no-code feature in the Stripe Dashboard is currently only available for platforms responsible for paying Stripe fees.
- Specify application fees directly in a [PaymentIntent](https://docs.stripe.com/api/payment_intents/object.md). Fees set with this method override the pricing logic specified in the Platform Pricing Tool.

Your platform can take an application fee with the following limitations:

- The value of `application_fee_amount` must be positive and less than the amount of the charge. The application fee collected is capped at the captured amount of the charge.
- There are no additional Stripe fees on the application fee itself.
- In line with Brazilian regulatory and compliance requirements, platforms based outside of Brazil with Brazilian connected accounts can’t collect application fees through Stripe.
- The currency of `application_fee_amount` depends upon a few [multiple currency](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/currencies.md) factors.

The resulting charge’s [BalanceTransaction](https://docs.stripe.com/api.md#balance_transaction_retrieve) includes a detailed fee breakdown of both the Stripe and application fees. To provide a better reporting experience, collecting a fee generates an [ApplicationFee](https://docs.stripe.com/api/application_fees/object.md) object. Use the `amount` property on the `ApplicationFee` object for reporting.

You can view application fees in the [Collected fees](https://dashboard.stripe.com/connect/application_fees) section of the Dashboard.

> Application fees for direct charges are created asynchronously by default. If you expand the `application_fee` object in a charge creation request, the application fee is created synchronously as part of that request. Only expand the `application_fee` object if you must, because it increases the latency of the request.
> 
> To receive notifications of asynchronously created `ApplicationFee` objects, listen for the [application_fee.created](https://docs.stripe.com/api/events/types.md#event_types-application_fee.created) webhook event.

## Net settlement

By default, Stripe uses *net settlement* for payments. That means we deduct your application fees from each transaction before its funds settle in the connected account’s balance. For example, for a charge of US$10 with a US$1.23 application fee, Stripe transfers US$1.23 to your platform account and US$8.77 to the connected account.

If you process payments in multiple currencies, read [how Connect handles currencies](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/currencies.md).

## Next steps

- If you plan to charge a subscription fee for using your platform, learn how to use Billing to [charge a service fee](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/saas/tasks/service-fee.md).
- When your connected accounts can accept payments and you’ve configured your monetisation, [set up payouts](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/saas/tasks/payout.md) so your connected account can transfer their Stripe balance to their external account.
- [Handle application fee refunds](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/saas/tasks/refunds-disputes.md)