Flat 2.5% + $0.15 Credit Card Processing – No Separate Gateway Fees
Stop guessing what you will pay in processing fees. Coastal Pay gives you a simple flat 2.5% + $0.15 per transaction on card payments through our gateway. No separate gateway fees, no surprise line items, just transparent pricing built to scale with your business.
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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
| Cost Component | Typical Provider | Coastal Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage rate | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| Per-transaction fee | $0.30 | $0.15 |
| Gateway fee | $25/month | $0 |
| Setup fee | $0 to $100 | $0 |
| Monthly minimum | $25 to $50 | $0 |
$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.
Top Flat 2.5% Payment Processors (Square, Coastal Pay, More Compared)
If you have been searching for a truly simple “flat 2.5%” processing rate, you have probably discovered how rare it is in the real world. In this guide, we break down which providers actually come close to 2.5%, where the fine print hides extra costs, and how Coastal Pay’s 2.5% + $0.15, no-gateway-fee model stacks up against Square, Shopify, and others.
Merchant Accounts That Approve In Minutes: Square vs Stripe vs Coastal Pay
If you need to start taking card payments this week, “approved in minutes” can sound too good to be true. In this comparison, we break down how fast Square, Stripe, PayPal, and Coastal Pay actually get you live – from application and instant boarding through to your first payout – so you can pick a provider that is both quick and reliable.
Get Approved in 2 Minutes and Start Taking Payments Today
If you are searching for a merchant service provider that really approves new accounts in just a few minutes, Coastal Pay was built for you. Our SignUp Link flow connects directly to underwriting, so most low-risk businesses get a decision and full merchant account boarding in approximately 2 minutes. No long forms, no weeks of waiting.
Apply for a Payment Gateway With No Separate Gateway Fees
Stop paying extra just to run your payments. Coastal Pay gives you a next-generation payment gateway with over 2,000 integrations and no separate gateway fees. Just a simple flat 2.5% + $0.15 per transaction and a fast 2-minute online approval.
