Flat 2.5% + $0.15 Credit Card Processing – No Separate Gateway Fees

Simple Flat Pricing That Keeps Your Costs Predictable

Every approved credit or debit card transaction is charged at 2.5% + $0.15. The Coastal Pay Gateway is included. There is no separate gateway line item, no monthly software subscription required, and no setup fee.

By comparison, most mainstream providers charge 2.6% to 2.9% + $0.10 to $0.30 per transaction, often layered with $15 to $30/month gateway fees and other recurring charges.

Side-by-Side Comparison

$50 Ticket Example, 1,000 Transactions/Month

• Typical 2.9% + $0.30 + $25 gateway: ~$1,775/month
• Coastal Pay 2.5% + $0.15, gateway included: ~$1,400/month
• Savings: ~$375/month = ~$4,500/year

Pricing applies to standard low-risk verticals. Specialty or high-risk categories may be priced differently, confirmed during approval.

Built for Growth: 2,000+ Integrations and a Next-Gen Gateway Included

The 2.5% + $0.15 rate is not stripped-down pricing. It comes with a complete payments platform:

• Coastal Pay Gateway at $0/month: Tokenization, recurring billing, virtual terminal, payment links, email invoicing, and centralized reporting
• 2,000+ software integrations: Clover, Lightspeed, Toast, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, QuickBooks, Xero, and vertical-specific systems across retail, restaurant, hotel, automotive, healthcare, and B2B
• All major payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo, Klarna, Afterpay, Coinbase
• Multi-channel coverage: In-person POS, e-commerce checkout, payment links, email invoicing, tap-to-pay on phone, and virtual terminal – same rate across all channels
• Fast, stable, and secure: PCI-compliant tokenization, bank-grade encryption, true merchant account backing

Some specialty payment methods (e.g., BNPL providers, crypto) may have provider-specific pricing confirmed at integration.

Why Businesses Choose 2.5% Flat With Coastal Pay Over Other Processors

Very few U.S. processors offer a simple 2.5% structure. Most that do hit only one channel, require a paid software subscription, or layer on monthly gateway fees. Coastal Pay bundles the gateway into the rate, applies the same rate across all channels, and requires no monthly subscription.

• Instant approvals in approximately 2 minutes through SignUp Link, with same-day processing live
• True merchant account backed by Wells Fargo and Axiom Bank, not a PayFac sub-account that can freeze on volume spikes
• Month-to-month options available – no multi-year contracts or hefty early termination fees
• U.S.-based phone support at 888-266-1715 with real humans, not just chat
• Dual pricing option available to eliminate net processing cost entirely on card transactions

Trusted by Growth-Focused Businesses

• 4,962+ active U.S. merchants
• $1.6B+ processed
• 27M+ transactions
• 13 acquiring bank relationships

Transparent Answers About 2.5% Processing Rates

Is 2.5% a good credit card processing rate?

Yes. For flat-rate pricing in the U.S., 2.5% + $0.15 is competitive against the mainstream 2.6% to 2.9% + per-transaction-fee structures from Stripe (2.9% + $0.30), Square (2.6% + $0.10 in-person; 2.9% + $0.30 online), and PayPal (2.99% + $0.49). True effective rate depends on card mix and average ticket, but eliminating separate gateway fees often reduces total cost meaningfully.

Who offers a 2.5% flat processing rate?

Only a handful come close. Coastal Pay offers 2.5% + $0.15 across all channels with no gateway fee. Square Plus offers 2.5% + $0.15 in-person only on the paid tier. Shopify Payments Grow offers 2.5% + $0.10 in-person only with a required Shopify subscription. Niche providers like Rock Paper Coin (events) and Nayax (unattended retail) offer 2.5% in specific verticals. Coastal Pay is one of the few applying the flat rate across in-person, online, and invoice channels uniformly.

Does the Coastal Pay 2.5% rate include the gateway?

Yes. The Coastal Pay Gateway is included at $0/month. No separate gateway subscription, no setup fee, no monthly minimum, no add-on fees for ACH, alternative payment methods, or tokenization.

How does my effective rate depend on card mix and ticket size?

The per-transaction $0.15 component hurts low-ticket businesses more than high-ticket ones (a $5 transaction has a 3% effective rate; a $100 transaction has a 2.65% effective rate). Card mix matters less under flat-rate pricing than under interchange-plus. Request a personalized rate review to model your exact savings.

How fast can I be approved?

Most U.S. low-risk merchants are approved through Coastal Pay’s SignUp Link instant boarding flow in approximately 2 minutes, with processing live the same day.

See full pricing and program details on the Coastal Pay Gateway page and Integration directory.