The short answer
A payment gateway charges to pass card data from your website, virtual terminal or invoice to the processor. Depending on the provider, you pay either a separate monthly fee plus a small per-transaction and batch fee, or nothing separate because gateway access is bundled into an all-in-one processing rate. The only numbers that count are the ones on your own quote and statement.
What a gateway does, and what it does not
When a customer pays online, three different things are involved. The payment gateway is the software connection: it takes card details from your checkout page, virtual terminal or invoice link, encrypts them, and sends them on. The processor is the company that routes the transaction through the card networks and moves the money. The merchant account is the account, held with or through an acquiring bank, where approved card sales settle before they are paid out to your business bank account. Some companies do all three under one brand. Others do only one. A gateway on its own cannot move money; it needs a processor and merchant account behind it. That is why gateway pricing is so confusing: sometimes you are buying only the connection, and sometimes the connection is folded into a single rate that also covers processing. If you only take in-person payments on a terminal, you may not need a separate gateway at all.
The fee types you may see
Not every provider charges every fee below, and many charge none of the gateway-specific ones separately. The point is to recognise each line so you know whether you are paying for the same thing twice. Card network interchange and assessments are separate from all of these and are charged by the card networks and issuing banks, not the gateway.
| Fee type | What it covers | Where it usually appears |
|---|---|---|
| Setup fee | Opening the gateway account | One-time line on the first statement or invoice |
| Monthly gateway fee | Access to the gateway and its reporting | Gateway invoice, or processor statement as 'gateway' or 'gateway access' |
| Per-transaction gateway fee | Each authorization sent through the gateway | Gateway invoice as a per-item charge, sometimes including declines |
| Batch fee | Sending the day's transactions for settlement | Daily line on the gateway invoice or processor statement |
| Add-ons | Fraud screening, card vault/tokenization, recurring billing, account updater | Separate monthly or per-use lines, often under product names |
| PCI compliance or non-compliance fee | Compliance programme or penalty for not validating | Processor statement, monthly or annual |
| Chargeback or dispute fee | Handling a disputed transaction | Processor statement, per dispute |
| Cross-border or currency fee | Foreign-issued cards or currency conversion | Per-transaction percentage on the processor statement |
Published pricing by provider
The table below shows only prices that each provider lists on its own public pricing page, as listed on 2026-09-14. Where a provider does not publish a price, we say so rather than estimate. Prices change, promotions come and go, and larger merchants are often offered custom pricing, so treat this as a starting point. The quote and agreement you actually sign govern what you pay. Note that all-in-one providers quote a blended processing rate that already includes gateway access, so their numbers are not directly comparable to a gateway-only fee.
| Provider | Model | Published price | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorize.net – Gateway Only | Gateway only; you bring a merchant account | $0 setup; $25 monthly gateway fee; $0.10 per transaction; $0.10 daily batch fee | As listed on 2026-09-14 |
| Authorize.net – All-in-One | Gateway plus merchant account | $0 setup; $25 monthly gateway fee; 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction; batch fee included | As listed on 2026-09-14 |
| PayPal Braintree | All-in-one processing and gateway | 2.89% + $0.29 per card transaction; additional 1% for non-USD currency; additional 1% for cards issued outside the US; $15 per chargeback | As listed on 2026-09-14 |
| Square (online) | All-in-one | Online and invoices: 3.3% + 30¢ on Square Free, 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium; manual entry or card on file: 3.5% + 15¢ | As listed on 2026-09-14 |
| Adyen | Interchange++ (interchange and scheme fees passed through, plus a fee) | Visa and Mastercard: $0.13 + interchange++ + 0.60%; no monthly or setup fees, but a minimum invoice that depends on industry or business model | As listed on 2026-09-14 |
| Stripe (US) | All-in-one | Not confirmed: our check on 2026-09-14 was served Stripe's Canadian page and we could not verify the USD figures | Check stripe.com/us/pricing |
| NMI | Gateway, typically sold through resellers and processors | Not publicly listed; pricing is set by the reseller or processor | Checked 2026-09-14 |
Bundled versus independent gateways
An independent gateway, such as Authorize.net's gateway-only plan or NMI, can connect to more than one processor. If you change processors later, your website checkout, shopping cart plugin and stored customer cards can often stay where they are. A bundled gateway belongs to one processor or platform. It is usually simpler to set up and may carry no separate monthly fee, which is a real advantage for many small businesses. The trade-off appears when you want to leave: you may need to rebuild your checkout, and your saved cards may not come with you. Neither model is automatically cheaper. It depends on your volume, your average ticket, and how likely you are to switch.
Card vaults and token portability
If you bill customers on file, run subscriptions, or save cards for repeat orders, the card vault matters more than the monthly fee. The vault stores card numbers and gives your system tokens in their place. Those tokens only work with the vault that issued them. Moving the underlying card data to a new provider is normally possible only through a secure, provider-to-provider migration, and each provider sets its own rules on whether and how it will export. Ask about this in writing before you integrate, not when you are trying to leave. Without a migration, you may have to ask every recurring customer to re-enter their card.
Double-charging: gateway fee plus gateway access fee
A common overcharge is paying twice for the same connection. The gateway bills you a monthly fee directly, and your processor also bills a monthly 'gateway access', 'gateway', 'internet' or 'eCommerce' fee for the same connection. Per-transaction charges can double up the same way: a gateway per-transaction fee on one invoice and a processor authorization fee on the other. Sometimes both charges are legitimate because each company is providing something different. Often they are not. The only way to tell is to put both invoices side by side and ask each provider, in writing, exactly what each line pays for.
How to read gateway lines on your statement
Start by listing every place you pay: the gateway invoice, the processor statement, and any charges on your business credit card from software or shopping cart companies. Then look for words like gateway, gateway access, internet, eCommerce, virtual terminal, auth, batch, settlement, token, vault, recurring, fraud and account updater. Separate fixed monthly lines from per-item lines. For per-item lines, multiply the fee by your transaction count and batch days to see what they really cost you each month. Check whether declined or voided transactions are billed as well. Finally, check whether a gateway charge appears on both the gateway invoice and the processor statement in the same month.
Questions to ask before you sign
Ask for the setup fee, monthly gateway fee, per-transaction fee and batch fee, in writing. Ask whether declines, voids and refunds carry a fee. Ask which add-ons are included and what each extra one costs, especially fraud tools, recurring billing and account updater. Ask whether the processor also charges a gateway access fee. Ask whether the gateway works with other processors and whether your shopping cart supports it. Ask whether stored card data can be migrated out if you leave, and at what cost. Ask about contract length, early termination fees and notice periods. Ask how chargebacks, foreign cards and currency conversion are priced.
US and Canada notes
Most published gateway pricing is quoted for US merchants in US dollars, so Canadian businesses should look for the Canadian page and confirm the currency. On their Canadian pricing pages, as listed on 2026-09-14: Stripe Canada lists 2.9% + CA$0.30 per successful domestic card transaction, plus 0.8% for international cards, plus 2% if currency conversion is required, and CA$15.00 per dispute received. Square Canada lists 2.8% + 30¢ for card-not-present payments such as online checkout and invoices, and 3.3% + 15¢ for keyed-in and card-on-file payments, each plus 1.5% for cards issued outside Canada. Moneris lists 2.85% + $0.30 per successful card-not-present credit card transaction and does not publish a separate gateway fee on that page. Canadian merchants selling to US customers, and US merchants selling to Canadians, should pay close attention to cross-border and currency conversion lines.
Key takeaways
- A gateway sends card data; the processor and merchant account move the money
- Gateway pricing is either a separate fee set or bundled into an all-in-one rate, so compare total cost, not headline fees
- Look for the same connection billed by both the gateway and the processor
- Agree card vault portability in writing before you integrate
- Use only prices from the provider's own page, and let your signed quote govern
Related guides
Sources
- Authorize.net – pricing page (checked 2026-09-14)
- PayPal Braintree – fees page (checked 2026-09-14)
- Square US – our fees page (checked 2026-09-14)
- Adyen – pricing page (checked 2026-09-14)
- NMI – website, no public pricing (checked 2026-09-14)
- Stripe Canada – pricing page (checked 2026-09-14)
- Square Canada – pricing page (checked 2026-09-14)
- Moneris – pricing page (checked 2026-09-14)
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