FiatFlex pricing: what a merchant actually pays

A card payment costs you 0.50% in FiatFlex commission, plus the Stripe fees charged to your own Stripe account: 1.4% + €0.20 on Tap to Pay, 1.5% + €0.25 on a payment link. Converting stablecoins into euros costs you 1% in FiatFlex commission, plus a flat bank fee of 0.30 USD per SEPA transfer, plus 0.50% of spread on USDC only, since EURC converts at par.

This page works both schedules out on a €10 ticket and on a €100 ticket, because a percentage shown on its own hides the fixed parts, and the fixed parts are what decide whether a small ticket is worth taking.

We are launching in France: the schedule described here, cards and stablecoins alike, is for merchants in France, and Tap to Pay on iPhone is available there at launch.

Two rails, so two schedules

The card rail. Stripe processes the transaction. Stripe's fees are charged to the Stripe account opened in your name and do not pass through us. Our 0.50% commission is added to those fees. The rates applied are the ones in Stripe's published price list, and the exact amount is shown to you before you confirm.

The stablecoin rail. Receiving USDC or EURC on Solana costs nothing. Fees appear only on the conversion into euros towards your bank account: 1% of FiatFlex commission on the amount converted, a flat bank fee of 0.30 USD per SEPA transfer, and 0.50% of spread on USDC only. That bank fee is flat, charged once per transfer whatever the amount moved, and the exact amount is shown to you before you confirm.

FiatFlex is not a bank, not a payment institution and not an electronic money institution. The regulated parties in the chain are Stripe for cards and Bridge for stablecoins. The wallet we operate on your behalf is custody: FiatFlex holds those funds until you ask for a conversion or a withdrawal. It is not self-custody.

The two rails live in the same app: who does what between Stripe, Bridge and us, and where your funds sit at each step, is set out in cards and stablecoins in one app.

A card payment, worked out

With Tap to Pay on iPhone:

• on €100: €0.50 to FiatFlex, €1.40 + €0.20 to Stripe, so €2.10 in total, or 2.10% of the ticket;
• on €10: €0.05 to FiatFlex, €0.14 + €0.20 to Stripe, so €0.39, or 3.9%.

On a payment link:

• on €100: €0.50 to FiatFlex, €1.50 + €0.25 to Stripe, so €2.25, or 2.25%;
• on €10: €0.05 to FiatFlex, €0.15 + €0.25 to Stripe, so €0.45, or 4.5%.

The Stripe rates quoted here are those of a consumer card issued in the European Economic Area. A card issued outside the EEA, or a commercial card, is charged more by Stripe: the rate that applies is shown in your Stripe dashboard.

Remember the mechanism rather than the figures: the fixed part, €0.20 or €0.25, does not move. It weighs 2% on a €10 ticket and 0.2% on a €100 ticket, which a single headline rate never tells you.

Whether a payment request goes out as a link or is shown as a QR code changes nothing in this schedule: both display the same payment, and the only choice that matters stays card or stablecoin, as payment link or QR code explains.

A stablecoin conversion, worked out

In EURC, converted at par, the conversion costs 1% of commission on the amount converted plus the flat bank fee of 0.30 USD per SEPA transfer:

• on €100: €1.00 of commission plus that one bank fee, so €1.26 in total, or 1.26% of the amount converted;
• on €10 converted on its own: €0.10 of commission, and the same bank fee, because it does not shrink with the amount.

In USDC, the 0.50% spread is added on top: €0.50 more on €100 converted, €0.05 more on €10.

If stablecoins are new to you, stablecoins and what converting costs covers USDC, EURC and how a conversion runs from the start.

Grouping conversions changes the total

The 0.30 USD is charged per transfer, not per payment received. Ten sales of €10 received in EURC and converted in a single transfer make €100 converted: €1.00 of commission plus one flat bank fee, so €1.26 for the lot. Converted one at a time, the same €100 carries the same €1.00 of commission, but that flat bank fee is charged ten times instead of once.

On a small ticket, stablecoins are not cheaper

This is the point most comparisons skip. On a €10 ticket converted on its own, the commission is only €0.10 in EURC, or €0.10 plus €0.05 of spread in USDC, but the flat bank fee of 0.30 USD lands on that single conversion in full. The total sits in the same order of magnitude as the €0.39 a €10 card tap costs, and in USDC it sits above it.

Stablecoins open a gap in two situations, and you control both: when the ticket is large, 1.26% against 2.10% on €100, and when you group your conversions, since you decide when they happen.

What costs nothing

• Accepting USDC or EURC: free, whatever the amount.
• Holding a stablecoin balance: free, for as long as you want.
• Withdrawing your card balance to your bank account: free for you. Your own bank may apply charges of its own on a transfer it receives.
• No subscription, no signup fee, no hardware to buy or rent.

Opening an account is free too, but it requires verification: identity, company details where there is a company, anti-money-laundering and sanctions screening, and a bank account in the SEPA area for your withdrawals. The list of documents expected is in the app.

We publish no settlement time, here or anywhere else. Our banking partner has confirmed none to us, and an unconfirmed timeframe is a promise, not information.

Disputes and refunds

Our fees per card dispute: €20 on receipt, plus €20 if you contest it, that second €20 returned if you win. So €20 uncontested, €20 contested and won, €40 contested and lost. Those are our fees only: on a lost dispute Stripe also debits the disputed amount and its own dispute fee from your Stripe account, and keeps the processing fees already retained.

A refund follows a different logic: we return our commission on the refunded amount, but Stripe does not return its processing fees. On €100 taken with Tap to Pay and refunded in full, you get our €0.50 back, not Stripe's €1.60.

A payment received in stablecoins has neither disputes nor recalls: a transfer confirmed on Solana is final, and a refund means sending a new payment.

Against the alternatives

On in-person cards we are not the cheapest, and claiming otherwise would be false: a provider quoting a single all-in percentage with no fixed part takes less than our €2.10 on a €100 ticket, and the gap is widest on small tickets. Read that provider's own published tariff on the day you decide rather than a figure copied into an article, then compare totals in euros on your real average basket: the method is in how to compare card rates in France.

This schedule brings something else: one account for cards and stablecoins, no hardware and no subscription, and a stablecoin rail at 1.26% on €100 in EURC where the card costs 2.10%. It is published and applies as it stands, with no quote to request: it is the one on the pricing section.

Frequently asked questions

Do Stripe's fees pass through FiatFlex?

No. They are charged to the Stripe account opened in your name and appear on your Stripe statement. Only the 0.50% commission comes to us.

EURC or USDC, which should I ask my customers for?

EURC converts at par. USDC carries 0.50% of spread on conversion, so €0.50 more on €100. If your customers can pay in EURC, it is cheaper: the detail is in USDC or EURC, which to choose.

Above what amount do stablecoins become cheaper than cards?

Compare totals, never percentages on their own. On €10 converted on its own the two rails land close together, because the flat bank fee of 0.30 USD weighs on that conversion much as Stripe's fixed €0.20 weighs on a card tap. The higher the ticket, or the more conversions you group into one transfer, the wider the gap opens in favour of stablecoins. Line by line, and on the share of the fees you decide yourself, the arithmetic is repeated in what taking a payment really costs.

Do I need to buy hardware?

No, there is none: cards are taken on your phone. You only need to download the app and have a verified account.