Stone Review

Stone is the small and mid-size business brand of StoneCo, the Nasdaq-listed (STNE) Brazilian payments and banking group. The merchant agreement is with Stone Instituição de Pagamento S.A., which the Banco Central do Brasil authorises as a card acquirer (credenciadora) and e-money issuer. Stone sells card terminals (maquininhas), a tap-on-phone app called TapStone, payment links, e-commerce processing, a free business account (Conta PJ) and working-capital credit. As of October 2026 it publishes some rates: TapStone at 0.87% for debit and 1.90% for one-off credit (crédito à vista), and payment links at 2.99% for one-off credit. Terminal rates are personalised: the terminal page advertises debit from 0.74% and credit from 2.99%, and you get your own rates after an assessment. The contract has no fixed term and the merchant can end it on 30 days' notice without penalty. StoneCo's cheaper micro-merchant brand, Ton, is a sibling sold separately, with its own published plans.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using Stone’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

Who Stone is

Stone is the main merchant brand of StoneCo Ltd., a Brazilian payments, banking and credit group listed on Nasdaq under the ticker STNE. StoneCo's own history page says Stone was founded in 2012 in a small office on Rua da Quitanda in Rio de Janeiro, won its Visa and Mastercard acquiring licence in 2013, processed its first transaction in 2014, became StoneCo in 2017 and listed in the United States on 25 October 2018. StoneCo's newsroom boilerplate instead says Stone was founded in 2014, and the Stone homepage counts 12 years in the Brazilian market, both consistent with the 2014 start of operations. The contracting company's CNPJ registration dates from June 2012, so we use 2012, but StoneCo's own pages disagree.

The company you sign with is Stone Instituição de Pagamento S.A., registered at Av. Rebouças 2880 in São Paulo. It says it is authorised by the Banco Central do Brasil as a credenciadora (card acquirer) and as an issuer of electronic money, which is what lets it both sign merchants directly and hold their money in a Stone account. StoneCo reports from George Town, Grand Cayman, where the listed parent is incorporated.

StoneCo reported about 4.8 million active clients and R$ 142.2 billion of total payment volume in the second quarter of 2026, covering both Stone and Ton. Of that volume, R$ 111.5 billion was card payments and R$ 30.7 billion was Pix by QR code. On 27 February 2026 StoneCo closed the sale of Linx and certain other software assets to TOTVS (agreed in July 2025); it had agreed to buy Linx in 2020, with the deal completing in 2021 after CADE approval. On 4 May 2026 it paid an extraordinary dividend of US$2.53 per share, about R$ 3.08 billion, after the closing. Stone is now concentrated on payments, banking and credit for businesses.

How Stone works

Stone signs the merchant directly as an acquirer, so there is no reseller or payment facilitator between you and the company that settles your card sales. Sales settle into a Conta PJ Stone, a free business account in the same app. Stone sells card terminals, TapStone, payment links, an online-sales product and integrations with POS, ERP, e-commerce and marketplace software. The terminals accept debit, credit and meal-voucher cards across more than 50 brands, Pix by QR code, credit in up to 21 instalments, and pre-authorisation for businesses that reserve an amount before finishing a service.

Instalments (parcelado) are central to card selling in Brazil, and they drive cost. The merchant offers the customer payment in instalments and pays a higher rate on those sales, plus, if it wants the money early, the cost of prepaying those receivables (antecipação). Compare instalment rates and anticipation costs, not just the debit and one-off credit headline.

Pricing

Stone publishes some prices and quotes others. As of October 2026 these are on Stone's own pages:

• TapStone (tap on phone): 0.87% debit, 1.90% one-off credit, 4.69% for 2 to 6 instalments, 4.93% for 7 to 21 instalments on the TapStone page. No rent, joining fee or monthly fee. Stone's site menu also says TapStone uses the same rates as your Stone terminal, so confirm which applies to you.
• Payment link: 2.99% one-off credit, 3.49% for 2 to 18 instalments, and a 2.49% anticipation fee whose basis (per sale or per month) the page does not state.
• Card terminals: personalised rates. The terminal page shows debit from 0.74% and credit from 2.99% as an offer, without saying who qualifies.
• Conta PJ: free, with paid boletos at R$ 2.99 each.

For terminals, rates are quoted per account after you answer a short questionnaire or speak to sales, and your live rates appear in the app under Taxas e Tarifas. The contract defines several other fees without publishing amounts: monthly terminal rent payable whether or not you use the terminal (or, for a terminal on loan, a one-off joining fee), an initial credentialing fee with annual renewals, a monthly connectivity fee that may be charged for each 3 months without a transaction, a fee for paper sales statements, operational fees for handling court orders and attachments of receivables, a fraud-monitoring fee, and a reversal fee on cancellations and chargebacks. The website says rent is waived depending on sales, but not at what level. Ask for every one of these in writing.

Stone's pages do not say whether any tax is included in or added to these rates.

Contract and cancellation

Stone's general terms (Termos Gerais de Contratação de Produtos e Serviços de Pagamento, the PDF linked from its contract page and uploaded in February 2025) cover credentialing, the Stone account and prepayment of receivables. The contract starts with your first transaction and runs for an indefinite period. You can end it at any time on 30 days' notice without any charge or penalty, subject to finishing obligations already owed. Stone can end it immediately, using best efforts to warn you.

Three sets of clauses are worth reading before signing. Stone can adjust its fees after notice by email or on its website; if you disagree you can leave without charge, and staying counts as acceptance (Anexo II, 12.1.1). Another clause (12.1.2) says pricing may be changed at any time in listed cases, among them tax changes, higher issuer or card-scheme costs, a change in the economic or regulatory scenario, and a suspected adverse change in your financial position, and the per-transaction discount rate is defined as changeable from time to time at Stone's sole discretion. Stone may retain or set off receivables to cover amounts it considers you owe, including when it judges that you may have difficulty meeting your obligations. And rented terminals must come back within 5 business days of the contract ending, or you owe their full value.

Payouts

The terminal page says you receive sales the same day (na hora), and Pix arrives in the Conta PJ immediately. Under the contract, the payment period runs from the date the transaction is captured, according to the terms of the product you choose. The payment-link page advertises next-day receipt through anticipation for instalment sales, at the 2.49% fee shown. Stone does not publish a full payout schedule with the price of each option, so confirm in writing what your plan costs for same-day, next-day and per-instalment settlement.

Ton, Stone's sibling brand for micro-merchants

Ton (ton.com.br) is a separate StoneCo brand, launched in 2020 through a partnership with Grupo Globo according to StoneCo's history page. It runs through the same company, Stone Instituição de Pagamento S.A. Stone describes Ton as its brand for self-employed and micro businesses, with simpler and cheaper products, and Ton is open to individuals (pessoa física) as well as companies.

Ton's model differs from Stone's. You pay a one-off joining fee (taxa de adesão) for a terminal on loan (comodato), payable upfront or in up to 12 card instalments, and Ton says there is then no rent or monthly fee. As of October 2026 Ton's terminal page lists an introductory rate (plan Ton Mega+, updated 1 October 2026) of 0.57% for Visa and Mastercard debit and one-off credit and 7.97% for credit in 12 instalments, with payout in 1 business day and Pix free, valid for 30 days or until you sell R$ 5,000. Elo and Amex cost more. After that, rates depend on your previous month's sales. Payouts are in 1 business day, or within 1 minute if you switch on same-day receipt in the app, which Ton says changes your rates. Pix on the terminal is free for 30 days and stays free once you register a Pix key in your Conta Ton; otherwise it costs 0.49% per sale.

Reputation and complaints

Stone's homepage says it holds Reclame Aqui's RA1000 certificate with a score of 9.0. Reclame Aqui is Brazil's main consumer-complaint site, and RA1000 is its highest reputation seal. We could not load Reclame Aqui to confirm the current score, complaint volume or resolution rate, so treat this as Stone's own claim and check the live page before signing.

StoneCo's own results show pressure on its merchant base. The second-quarter 2026 release refers to higher churn from the fourth quarter of 2025 and says the measures to address it have so far mostly helped Ton. Card payment volume fell 3.1% year on year in that quarter while Pix volume grew 44.3%. That says more about StoneCo's business than about service to any one merchant, but it is a reminder to negotiate rates and rent terms rather than accept the first offer.

We found no regulatory enforcement action or settlement naming Stone that we could verify from a primary source during this review.

Who Stone suits

Stone suits Brazilian small and mid-size businesses, franchises and multi-store retailers that want a licensed acquirer, a business account and credit from one company, and that value fast human support. The open-ended contract with a 30-day exit and no penalty lowers the risk of trying it.

Micro businesses and the self-employed will usually find Ton simpler, because its rates are published and it charges a one-off fee instead of rent. Businesses that want to compare terminal prices before speaking to sales, or that sell mainly in instalments, should get Stone's full rate card, rent and anticipation costs in writing and compare them like for like with at least one other acquirer.