Overview
Card payments bundle multiple fee components (interchange, assessment, network) that vary by card type, region, and risk. Stablecoin payments primarily incur network fees and optional gateway markups, often lowering effective costs for certain tickets.
Card Fee Components
- Interchange: Paid to issuing banks; varies by card/product
- Assessment: Paid to networks (Visa/Mastercard)
- Network/processing: Authorization, clearing, and cross-border add-ons
- FX spreads: Extra costs for currency conversion
- Chargebacks: Operational costs and potential losses
Stablecoin Fee Components
- Network fees: On-chain transaction costs (often cents to low dollars)
- Gateway markups: Provider fees for invoicing, reconciliation, refunds
- Off-ramp spreads: Optional conversion costs to fiat
Scenarios: When Stablecoins Win
- Cross-border sales with card FX and assessment layers
- High-dispute categories where chargebacks are frequent
- Digital goods/services with global customer bases
- Large invoices where percentage-based card fees are material
Trade-offs and Hidden Costs
Stablecoins remove chargebacks, but refunds must be operationalized. Address errors require validation controls. Regulatory monitoring and treasury rules add overhead but are manageable with gateways.
Conclusion
Stablecoin payments can reduce effective costs versus cards, particularly cross-border. Evaluate ticket sizes, dispute rates, and FX exposure to decide the optimal mix.