Gateway fee
A separate charge for the software that transmits transactions to the processor.
A gateway fee is a monthly and/or per-transaction charge for using a payment gateway, levied when the gateway is a separate product from the processor (as with Authorize.net-style setups). All-in-one providers usually fold it into their rate, so watch for it when comparing quotes.
How it works
The expensive surprise with a gateway is that it is usually a separate contract, with its own term and its own notice period. Change processor and the gateway bill carries on, and you can end up paying for both for a few months. Cancelling is complicated further by who invoices you. Some merchants pay the gateway vendor directly; others see the charge bundled into the processor's monthly statement because a sales agent resold the licence. Notice has to go to the party you actually signed with.
The bill itself has a monthly platform fee and a per-transaction fee, sometimes a one-off setup charge, and optional modules priced separately. The headline number rarely covers the modules. A tokenization vault, recurring billing or advanced fraud filtering can each carry its own monthly charge. Ask for the full price list before you sign, and ask specifically whether the per-transaction fee applies to declines.
Which half of that bill hurts more depends on your business. The monthly portion bites when volume is low, the per-transaction portion when your average ticket is small. Convert both into a percentage of monthly card volume before you compare providers, because a gateway that looks cheap at $25 a month is not cheap once its ten-cent transaction fee meets a thousand $12 sales. Fold the result into your effective rate.
Worked example
Take 600 sales at an average of $50, so $30,000 of volume. A gateway at $25 a month plus $0.10 per transaction bills you $25 fixed and $60 on transactions, which is $85 for the month, and your processor's own rate sits on top of that. As a share of volume the gateway alone is 0.28%. That is more than many processors charge in markup.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I have to pay a separate gateway fee?
- Only if the gateway is a separate product from your processing. Most all-in-one and flat-rate providers bundle it into their rate, so there is nothing extra to pay. The separate fee shows up when you hold a traditional merchant account and license the gateway in its own right. Neither model is automatically cheaper; your volume and your average ticket decide it.
- How much does a payment gateway cost per month?
- Roughly $10 to $25 a month plus about $0.05 to $0.10 per transaction for most standalone gateways, with setup fees, where they exist, usually a modest one-off charge. Gateways with built-in fraud tooling, vaulting or multi-acquirer routing cost more than that. Before you compare, ask whether the per-transaction fee is charged per authorization, because that means declines cost you as well.
- Can I keep my gateway if I switch processors?
- Usually, yes. Most independent gateways connect to several acquirers and can be repointed at a new processor without rebuilding your checkout, which is a large part of why merchants choose a standalone gateway over a bundled one. Check that yours supports the new processor's platform before you commit, and check how much time your existing gateway contract still has to run.