Payment gateways serve as essential intermediaries between customers and businesses, authorising and processing transactions securely and efficiently. Whether facilitating payments through traditional banking methods or crypto, these gateways ensure the seamless transfer of funds while enhancing security and reliability.
Comparative overview
| Feature | Traditional payment gateways | Crypto payment gateways |
| Supported Currencies | Fiat only | Fiat and cryptocurrencies |
| Transaction Fees | Typically 2-3.5% + fixed per transaction | Typically between 1-2%. Can be lower than 1% |
| Settlement Time | Typically 1-3 business days | Near instant |
| Chargebacks | Yes | No |
| Geographic Restrictions | Yes | No |
| Operating Hours | Limited | 24/7 |
The advantages of a crypto gateway
Bitpace’s crypto payment gateway offers seamless integration with popular e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce and OpenCart, making digital asset payments accessible for businesses of all sizes. With a user-friendly interface and a developer-friendly API, implementation is effortless, ensuring a smooth transition to crypto payments.
Key benefits of Bitpace:
- Real-time payment tracking: Monitor transactions through a live dashboard for greater transparency and efficiency.
- Enhanced security: Blockchain encryption provides tamper-proof transactions, reducing fraud risks.
- Global reach: Access over 400 million crypto users worldwide, expanding your customer base beyond traditional markets.
- Lower operational costs: Reduce expenses with minimal transaction fees.
- No chargebacks: Transactions are final and irreversible, protecting businesses from fraudulent disputes.
- Instant settlements: Faster cash flow management, with payments processed in minutes rather than days.
By adopting Bitpace, businesses can eliminate chargebacks, lower costs, and expand globally—all without the limitations of traditional banking systems.
Crypto payment gateways
Crypto payment gateways provide businesses with a modern, secure, and efficient solution for processing digital transactions. They enable seamless acceptance of various cryptocurrencies and offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional payment methods.
How crypto payment gatewaysoperate
Crypto payment gateways function as intermediaries between customers, merchants, and the blockchain network, ensuring smooth transaction processing.
Step-by-step process:
- Payment initiation: When a customer chooses to pay with cryptocurrency at checkout, the gateway generates a unique wallet address or QR code for the transaction.
- Transaction processing: The customer sends the payment via the designated blockchain network through the gateway’s integrated interface.
- Verification & confirmation: The blockchain network validates and confirms the transaction, ensuring security and immutability.
- Merchant settlement: Once confirmed, the gateway records and encrypts the transaction details before sending funds to the merchant’s server.
Why choose Bitpace’s crypto payment gateway?
Bitpace simplifies the entire crypto payment process with a user-friendly interface and developer-friendly API, enabling effortless integration with e-commerce platforms such as WooCommerce and OpenCart.
Traditional payment gateways
Traditional payment gateways have long served as the foundation of online transactions, enabling seamless fund transfers between customers and merchants. Understanding their operational mechanisms and key features is essential for evaluating their effectiveness compared to cryptocurrency payment gateways.
How traditional payment gateways operate
Traditional payment gateways follow a structured, multi-step process to ensure secure and efficient transaction processing. While reliable, this system involves several intermediaries, leading to potential delays and additional fees.
- Payment initiation: The process begins when a customer enters their credit or debit card details on the merchant’s platform. These details are encrypted and validated to ensure security and prevent fraud.
- Authentication & authorisation: The encrypted payment information is then sent to the customer’s issuing bank via a payment processor. The bank, along with card networks like Visa or MasterCard, verifies the transaction’s legitimacy, checks for sufficient funds, and returns an approval or decline response.
- Capture & settlement: If the transaction is approved, it moves into the settlement phase, where funds are transferred from the customer’s account to the merchant’s account. This process, handled in daily batches, typically takes 24–48 hours to complete.
Although traditional payment gateways offer a structured and secure payment process, the involvement of multiple intermediaries can result in longer settlement times, additional processing fees, and chargeback risks.
Key features & limitations
Traditional payment gateways provide a variety of features that support business operations, but they also come with notable limitations:
- Higher transaction fees: Typically charge between 2-3.5% + a fixed amount per transaction, increasing operational costs.
- Chargeback risks: Merchants are vulnerable to chargebacks, where customers can dispute payments, potentially leading to revenue losses.
- Geographical restrictions: Many payment gateways do not support international transactions or operate on limited banking hours, restricting business scalability.
- Longer processing times: Settlement periods range from 24 to 48 hours, slowing down cash flow for businesses.
While traditional payment gateways offer security and compatibility with established financial systems, their reliance on banks, card networks, and intermediaries introduces inefficiencies, higher costs, and regulatory constraints. Compared to crypto payment gateways, which provide faster settlements, lower fees, and global accessibility, traditional systems may no longer be the most optimal solution for businesses looking to scale in the digital economy.
Security comparison
Security is a critical factor in choosing a payment gateway. Crypto payment gateways offer distinct advantages over traditional systems by leveraging decentralised networks and blockchain technology.
Enhanced security with blockchain & decentralisation
Crypto payment gateways, such as Bitpace, record transactions on a tamper-resistant blockchain ledger, significantly reducing the risk of fraud, identity theft, and unauthorised access. Unlike traditional payment gateways that rely on centralised databases, blockchain technology distributes transaction data across multiple nodes, ensuring no single point of failure.
Key security features of Bitpace’s payment gateway include:
- Tamper-proof transactions: Payments are recorded on an immutable blockchain ledger, preventing fraud and unauthorised modifications.
- Advanced encryption: Bitpace uses high-level encryption protocols to protect sensitive financial data, ensuring transactions remain secure and scam-resistant.
- Decentralisation & fraud prevention: Unlike traditional payment gateways, which are prone to hacking and data breaches, Bitpace’s decentralised infrastructure eliminates centralised weaknesses, significantly reducing security risks.
- Secure wallet addresses & QR codes: Every transaction is assigned a unique, secure wallet address or QR code, ensuring confidential payment processing without exposing sensitive details.
- Real-time blockchain monitoring: Transactions are continuously monitored on the blockchain, allowing for instant fraud detection and improved financial oversight.
Limitations of traditional payment gateways
Traditional payment gateways operate within centralised banking systems, making them more vulnerable to:
- Hacking attempts: Centralised databases are attractive targets for cybercriminals, increasing the risk of data breaches and identity theft.
- Single-point failures: If a bank or payment processor experiences an outage, transactions may be delayed or disrupted.
- Fraudulent chargebacks: Traditional gateways allow chargebacks, which can be exploited by bad actors to reverse legitimate payments.
By choosing Bitpace’s crypto payment gateway, businesses gain a more secure, resilient, and fraud-proof payment solution. With blockchain transparency, decentralised infrastructure, and advanced encryption, Bitpace ensures your transactions remain protected, efficient, and immune to traditional financial risks.
Cost analysis
Transaction fees
| Payment gateway type | Typical transaction fee (%) | Fixed fee per transaction ($) |
| Traditional payment gateways | 2% – 3.5% | 0.20 – 0.30 |
| Crypto payment gateways | 1-2% | None |
Traditional payment gateways charge between 2% and 3.5% per transaction, plus a fixed fee ranging from $0.20 to $0.30. With a crypto payment gateway, you benefit from transaction fees typically as low as 1%, eliminating fixed costs. This reduction stems from the peer-to-peer nature of cryptocurrencies, which removes the need for intermediaries such as banks and payment processors.
Integration and usability
Depending on your existing infrastructure and resources, the integration process with Bitpace typically takes between 2 and 8 weeks. However, technical compatibility challenges may arise due to differing protocols, APIs, or data formats between traditional payment systems and blockchain-based gateways. Addressing these discrepancies might require modifications or redevelopment to ensure seamless integration.
Seamless integration with e-commerce platforms
Integrating Bitpace’s crypto payment gateway into your e-commerce platform is straightforward and adaptable. Businesses can choose from:
- Low-code solutions: Easily deployable plugins and hosted payment pages for a hassle-free setup.
- API & custom integrations: Developer-friendly APIs and software tools for businesses requiring a tailored payment experience.
User-friendly and efficient payment processing
Bitpace is designed to offer an intuitive and user-friendly experience for both merchants and customers. With multi-currency support, businesses can accept payments in over 70 cryptocurrencies, expanding their customer base and increasing accessibility.
Conclusion
Adopting a cryptocurrency payment gateway can revolutionise the way your business handles transactions by providing enhanced security, cost efficiency, and global accessibility. With lower fees and faster settlements, businesses can improve cash flow, reduce operational costs, and eliminate chargeback risks, fostering greater financial stability.
The ability to process borderless transactions allows businesses to expand into global markets, reaching a wider audience without the constraints of traditional banking systems. Additionally, the integration of advanced blockchain technology ensures tamper-proof transactions, protecting both merchants and customers from fraud and data breaches.
By choosing Bitpace, businesses gain a seamless and scalable payment solution that prioritises security, transparency, and ease of use. Whether through real-time payment tracking, multi-currency support, or uninterrupted 24/7 operations, Bitpace equips businesses with the tools needed to stay competitive in an evolving digital economy.
Embracing cryptocurrency payments is more than just an innovation—it’s a strategic move towards future-proofing your business. With the rapid advancements in digital payments, integrating a crypto payment gateway like Bitpace ensures you remain agile, efficient, and ahead of industry trends.
Start accepting crypto payments with Bitpace’s crypto payment gateway
Get paid in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and many more established cryptocurrencies with Bitpace crypto payment gateway. Reach out now to start accepting crypto payments.