How to Choose a Crypto Payment Gateway - A Merchant Checklist
How to choose a crypto payment gateway. Compare commission, withdrawal fees, security, API, webhooks and checkout experience with this practical checklist.
You've decided to accept crypto. The next question is how to choose a crypto payment gateway. Get it wrong and you'll pay for it in hidden costs, lost payments or security gaps. This guide walks through the criteria that matter and ends with a checklist you can use to compare providers.
8 criteria for choosing a crypto payment gateway
1. Supported coins and networks
Start with what your customers actually want to pay with. A long coin list looks impressive, but in practice most payments are in stablecoins, above all USDT. Which network that USDT runs on matters as much as the coin itself. TRC20 (TRON) is a popular choice for payments thanks to low transfer costs and fast finality. See USDT on TRC20 vs ERC20 vs BEP20 for the differences.
MercanPay deliberately stays focused: TRX and USDT on TRON (TRC20).
2. Commission and total cost
The headline commission rate can mislead. Add up every line item:
- Transaction commission: the percentage taken from each payment.
- Withdrawal fee: what it costs to move your balance to your own wallet.
- Minimums: minimum invoice and withdrawal limits hit small businesses hardest.
- Who pays the network fee: the customer or you?
- Rate spread: how transparent the rate is on USD-priced invoices.
On MercanPay, commission starts from 0.4% and is set per merchant. The withdrawal fee is 1–3 USD, and the minimum invoice and minimum withdrawal are both worth 10 USD. Network fees are included in the amount the customer pays and are not deducted from your balance. Some large providers charge noticeably more in commission and withdrawal fees, so compare offers on total cost.
3. Speed to finality
How quickly a payment hits your balance shapes both customer experience and delivery speed. MercanPay credits payments after 20 block confirmations, usually about a minute, and the payment page shows "payment detected · confirming" as soon as the transfer appears on-chain. More in what are block confirmations.
4. Security features
If the gateway holds a balance for you, your account security is your business security. Ask:
- Is login two-step?
- Do withdrawals require extra verification?
- Can withdrawals be restricted to pre-approved addresses?
- Are withdrawals locked for a while after risky events such as a password reset?
- Is there an activity log, and are there security emails?
MercanPay uses two-step login (email code or authenticator). Every panel withdrawal needs both an email code and an authenticator (TOTP) code, and API withdrawals can only go to trusted saved addresses. A 24-hour withdrawal lock follows a password reset, and there's an activity log plus security emails. See our account security guide.
5. API quality and documentation
If you're automating checkout, API details matter:
- Idempotency: a request retried after a network error shouldn't create a duplicate invoice or payout. On MercanPay, repeating a request with the same
order_idreturns the existing invoice, and withdrawals require anidempotency_key. - Key scopes: you should be able to give keys only the scopes they need (
read,invoices,withdrawals). - Official libraries: MercanPay has Python (
pip install mercanpay) and PHP (composer require mercanpay/mercanpay-php) clients. - Clear error codes: failed requests should come back in a consistent shape with meaningful codes.
Ready-made plugins save a lot of time: MercanPay's free plugins for WooCommerce, WordPress and OpenCart are on the Integrations page. If there's no plugin for your platform, check how easy the API is to integrate; with MercanPay that goes through the API or the PHP library. Start with the PHP integration guide.
6. Webhook reliability
You'll fulfil orders from webhooks, so they need to be secure and dependable:
- Are they signed? MercanPay webhooks are signed with HMAC-SHA256 and carry a header in the
t=<timestamp>,v1=<signature>format. - Are failed deliveries retried? MercanPay retries with increasing delays for up to 24 hours.
- Can you see delivery history and resend events?
See verifying webhook signatures.
7. Checkout experience
The hosted payment page is the only screen your customer sees. A QR code, a copyable address, a countdown, language support and USD pricing all affect conversion. MercanPay's payment page shows a QR code, address and countdown, supports Turkish and English, and on USD-priced invoices lets the customer pick TRX or USDT with the rate locked. See crypto checkout conversion tips.
8. Edge-case handling
Real customers underpay, overpay and pay after the deadline. A good gateway doesn't turn those cases into lost money. On MercanPay, a partial payment extends the invoice so the customer can send the rest, and you can set an optional 0–20% underpayment tolerance. Overpayments are credited in full, and late payments still reach your balance. More in underpayments, overpayments and late payments.
Crypto payment gateway checklist
Fill in this table for each provider you talk to. The right-hand column shows where MercanPay stands:
| Criterion | Question to ask | MercanPay |
|---|---|---|
| Coins / network | Which network do my customers pay on? | TRX and USDT on TRON (TRC20) |
| Commission | What's the total cost? | From 0.4%, rate set per merchant |
| Withdrawal fee | What does cashing out cost? | 1–3 USD |
| Minimums | Are my small orders covered? | 10 USD minimum invoice and withdrawal |
| Finality | When does a payment hit my balance? | 20 confirmations, usually about 1 minute |
| Rate risk | USD pricing and rate lock? | Yes |
| Login security | Two-step login? | Email code or authenticator |
| Withdrawal security | Extra checks on payouts? | Email code + TOTP, trusted addresses, 24h lock |
| API | Idempotency, scopes, libraries? | order_id, idempotency_key, Python and PHP |
| Webhooks | Signed and retried? | HMAC-SHA256, retries with backoff |
| Edge cases | Underpaid / overpaid / late? | Extension, tolerance, full credit |
| Support | Who do I contact when something goes wrong? | In-panel support ticket system |
Red flags to avoid
- Vague fees: if the commission is clear but withdrawal fees or rate spreads aren't, you can't calculate your real cost.
- Unsigned webhooks: without signature checks, a forged "paid" notification can trick you into shipping.
- Too-good-to-be-true promises: claims of no verification and unlimited anonymous use are legal and operational warning signs. MercanPay merchants apply with a short business questionnaire and are approved.
- No support channel: when money is involved, you need someone to reach.
FAQ
Is the lowest commission always the best deal?
No. Factor in withdrawal fees, minimums, rate spreads and the cost of lost payments, and compare on total cost.
Do I need to support many networks?
It depends on your customers. For most USDT payments TRC20 is fast and affordable. What matters is clearly telling customers which network to choose.
What if there's no plugin for my platform?
Usually not a problem. There are ready-made plugins for WooCommerce, WordPress and OpenCart; elsewhere, a well-documented API and official libraries make a custom integration a few hours' work.
Get started with MercanPay
Start accepting USDT and TRX with transparent fees, strong security and a developer-friendly API: open a merchant account. API details are in the documentation.
