Pricing model · flat-rate
A flat-rate contract on topropay collapses per-BIN and per-scheme cost variance into a single processing rate per transaction. Same orchestration platform, same PCI L1 vault, same routing across acquirers — different pricing shape underneath.
Key benefits
Four properties that show up the moment a merchant chooses predictability over per-transaction cost-optimisation.
A flat rate turns per-transaction cost into a formula finance can model. There's no interchange-shift surprise at month-end and no per-BIN cost variance in the reporting. Forecasting sits on top of gross volume × the flat rate.
Product, ops and support all read the same fee. Refund cost, chargeback cost and interchange downgrades don't need per-team explainers. The trade-off is honest — flat pricing usually costs more on high-value / low-risk transactions and less on small-ticket / high-risk ones.
Merchants on flat-rate pricing still ride the same orchestration platform, the same PCI L1 vault, the same routing engine and the same reconciliation feed. The pricing model is a contract shape, not a different product.
As volume grows, moving from flat-rate to interchange-plus (or blended-with-passthrough) is a contract amendment, not a re-platforming. The merchant doesn't re-integrate. Historical reporting stays intact.
Pricing shapes
Three contract shapes the same underlying platform can carry. The comparison below is honest — none is universally cheapest.
e.g. 2.9% + $0.30 across all cards. Predictable, easy to communicate; ceiling is that low-risk debit / commercial cards subsidise high-cost premium consumer credit within the same rate.
e.g. interchange + 0.25% + $0.10. The merchant pays the actual scheme interchange plus a transparent margin. Lower average cost at scale; more per-BIN cost variance in reporting.
e.g. 1.9% + $0.10 domestic, 2.9% + $0.15 international. Buckets by BIN geography, scheme or product. Sits between flat-rate and interchange-plus on predictability vs cost.
How the processing rate flows
What happens between a merchant signing a flat-rate contract and the fee showing up in their reconciliation feed.
Underwriting sets the flat processing rate based on merchant vertical, geography, average ticket, expected chargeback profile and the connected acquirer panel that will carry the traffic.
The unified API, PCI L1 vault, hosted checkout / embedded fields / SDK — all identical to the interchange-plus path. Pricing shape doesn't change the integration.
The platform still routes every authorisation across connected acquirers for approval-rate lift. What flat-rate does is normalise the fee the merchant sees regardless of which acquirer cleared it.
The contracted flat rate applies per successful authorisation; refunds reverse the associated fee per the contract terms; chargebacks add their own fee line separate from the flat rate.
Settlement files carry the merchant's flat-rate fee as a single normalised line per cycle, tagged into the same ledger as authorisations, refunds, chargebacks and adjustments.
Main use cases
Five recurring merchant shapes that tend to prefer flat-rate over interchange-plus — SMB, SaaS, new-vertical launches, low-risk service businesses and short-term pilots.
Small businesses that value predictability over marginal cost savings. Flat rate makes monthly forecasting straightforward and reduces the accounting overhead per store.
SaaS billing where average order value is stable — a flat rate is easier to fold into unit-economics modelling than interchange-plus.
Merchants launching in a new geography without a clear picture of BIN mix or premium-card share — a flat rate removes the per-transaction cost surprise while data accrues.
Salons, clinics, tutors — low-risk verticals where flat-rate pricing is often cheaper in practice than interchange-plus once the margin is factored.
Time-boxed engagements or pilot programmes where the contract complexity of interchange-plus doesn't earn its keep against the pilot's volume.
Platform features
Twelve capabilities the platform ships regardless of pricing shape — flat-rate merchants get the same authorisation-side and reconciliation-side surface as every other contract shape.
One per-transaction rate applied across every connected acquirer that carries the traffic.
Refunds reverse the associated fee per contract terms; refund-cost policy set at underwriting.
Chargebacks add their own fee per event, separate from the flat rate; tagged into the dispute queue.
Card data captures into the platform vault before any acquirer sees it — identical posture as other pricing shapes.
Per-BIN, per-currency and per-country routing across the connected panel; flat-rate merchants still get the approval-rate benefit.
Soft declines cascade to the next ranked provider inside the same authorisation — the flat rate applies only to the eventually-approved auth.
Network tokens by default for card; scheme updaters keep saved credentials alive across re-issuance regardless of pricing shape.
Selective EMV 3DS2 challenges per authorisation — PSD2-compliant in Europe; SCA doesn't change fee shape.
One queue across providers; evidence-pack templates per vertical; automated representment for select scheme types.
One normalised fee row per cycle tagged into the reconciliation ledger; per-transaction fee snapshots also available.
Contract amendment to move from flat-rate to interchange-plus as volume grows — no re-integration.
Effective landed cost per transaction, per BIN and per acquirer surfaced in the dashboard — flat-rate merchants still see the underlying cost the platform absorbs.
Trust & compliance
The contract shape doesn't change the security or scheme-programme posture — those are platform-wide and apply identically to flat-rate merchants.
Ready to price predictability
A 30-minute pricing review covers your target verticals, geographies and BIN mix, a flat-rate quote against your actual profile, and an honest side-by-side with interchange-plus so you can choose the shape that fits.
Frequently asked
Definitions, refund and chargeback treatment, cross-border, migration paths and an explicit disambiguation of the labour-side 'piece rate payment system' term.
Flat rate payment processing on topropay is a pricing-model choice for the merchant contract: one per-transaction rate applied across every connected acquirer, regardless of BIN, scheme or country of the underlying card. The technical platform underneath — vault, routing, reconciliation — is identical to what interchange-plus and blended merchants ride.
No. A flat rate is a predictability trade — it removes per-BIN and per-scheme cost variance from the merchant's reporting, but it typically costs more per transaction on low-cost cards (debit, some commercial) and less on high-cost ones (premium consumer credit, cross-border). The right choice depends on the merchant's BIN mix, average ticket and finance-side preference.
The processing rate on a flat-rate contract is set at underwriting based on merchant vertical, target geographies, expected average ticket, chargeback profile and the connected acquirer panel that will carry the traffic. Higher-risk verticals and higher-cost geographies typically carry higher flat rates.
Contracts usually specify a domestic flat rate and an international / cross-border flat rate, since cross-border cards carry substantially higher underlying interchange. Some contracts fold the two into a single blended flat rate; the specific structure is set at underwriting.
Refund-fee treatment is contract-specific. Common approaches are: (a) the original flat rate is refunded in full, (b) the scheme portion is refunded but the platform's margin is retained, (c) a per-refund flat fee is charged separately. topropay contracts spell out the treatment upfront.
Chargebacks under flat-rate pricing typically carry their own per-event fee (scheme-passed-through plus a platform margin), separate from the flat-rate fee. Won-back chargebacks may or may not refund the chargeback fee depending on scheme rules and the contract.
Yes. Moving from flat-rate to interchange-plus (or blended-with-passthrough) is a contract amendment, not a re-platforming. The integration stays exactly the same. Historical reporting under the flat-rate shape stays intact; new transactions bill under the new shape from the amendment date.
No. Flat-rate merchants still get smart routing across the connected acquirer panel — cascade on soft decline, per-BIN routing, retry-side lane selection. Flat-rate is purely a contract-shape choice; it doesn't disable any of the platform's authorisation-side capabilities.
Each successful authorisation carries the flat rate applied to it in the platform's reconciliation feed. Settlement files roll up the per-transaction fees into a single normalised fee line per cycle, tagged alongside authorisations, refunds and chargebacks in the same ledger the merchant already reads.
European flat-rate contracts typically sit in the 1.4%–2.9% + fixed-per-transaction range for domestic cards, and 2.5%–3.5% + fixed for cross-border. Exact rates depend on merchant vertical, average ticket, chargeback profile and volume commitment. topropay quotes a specific rate at contract.
No. 'Piece rate payment system' is an HR / labour-compensation term — it describes paying workers per unit of output produced (per piece assembled, per delivery completed) rather than by hour or salary. It's unrelated to card / bank-rail payments processing. topropay is a payments-industry platform; it doesn't cover workforce compensation.
Yes. Flat-rate is set per merchant contract, so a PSP or reseller can offer different flat rates to different downstream merchants based on their vertical, volume and risk profile. The platform's per-merchant reporting keeps each contract's economics distinct.
All of them — hosted checkout, embedded hosted fields, low-level SDK, invoice payment surfaces, POS SoftPOS, recurring billing, dispute queue, reconciliation exports and ERP connectors. The pricing shape doesn't restrict the platform surface the merchant can use.
Most flat-rate merchants sign, complete KYB and go live within 1–3 weeks depending on vertical, geography and documentation depth. The sandbox is available from day one; live traffic starts once underwriting is complete and the connected acquirers have registered the sub-merchant.
topropay recommends the shape that best fits the merchant's stage and reporting posture: flat-rate for smaller volumes, predictable-forecasting-first finance teams, or short-term pilots; interchange-plus for higher volumes where marginal cost optimisation earns its keep; blended for merchants in between. The recommendation comes out of a 30-minute pricing review at contract.
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