Card payment rates in France: how to compare them properly
Our card rate all-in on Tap to Pay, and a method for setting it against any published tariff on your own basket.
Contents
Taken in person with Tap to Pay, a payment with a card issued in the European Economic Area (EEA) costs 1.9% + €0.20 with FiatFlex, all in; with a card issued outside the EEA, it costs 3.4% + €0.20. On cards alone we are not the cheapest, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. What follows is our own schedule in full, and a method for setting it against any other provider's published tariff without being misled by a headline percentage.
We do not reprint other providers' rates here. Public tariffs are revised whenever their owners decide, and a rate copied into an article stops being true without warning: read each provider's own price page on the day you decide.
FiatFlex is open to merchants established in the euro area with a euro bank account, and Tap to Pay on iPhone is available in France.
Our card schedule, in full
With a card issued in the EEA, Tap to Pay costs 1.9% + €0.20 per payment and a payment link 2% + €0.25 per payment. On a payment link, a Visa, Mastercard or CB business card issued in the EEA costs 3.3% + €0.25. With a card issued outside the EEA, Tap to Pay costs 3.4% + €0.20 and a payment link up to 3.65% + €0.25 (3% + €0.25 with a UK card).
These are all-in prices: they include our remuneration and, where applicable, our partners' fees, with no subscription or sign-up fee added. The same schedule is on the pricing page.
On a small ticket, the fixed part decides, and it counts against us
A rate quoted as a pure percentage has no fixed part. Our card schedule has one, €0.20 per payment on Tap to Pay and €0.25 per payment on a payment link, and it does not move with the amount taken.
So a small ticket costs proportionally more than a large one: same schedule, same card. If your average basket is small and you mostly take cards, a provider quoting a pure percentage with no fixed part will cost you less than we do, and we would rather write that than leave it out.
How to compare, on your own figures
Three numbers are enough, and you already know them: your average basket, your monthly card volume, and the share of your takings you could receive in stablecoins.
- Take the provider's tariff as published today: its percentage, its fixed part per transaction if it has one, and its subscription if its best rate depends on one.
- Take ours the same way: the Tap to Pay or payment link price above that matches your customers' cards, with no subscription.
- Apply both to your real average basket, then multiply by your number of transactions. Never set two percentages against each other: set two totals in euros against each other.
- Then do the same for the share received in stablecoins. Converting them into euros and sending the money to your bank account costs 1% in EURC and 1.5% in USDC, SEPA transfer included: a percentage of the amount converted, with no fixed part.
Step 3 is where most comparisons go wrong. A percentage quoted on its own is the same number for an €8 basket and an €80 one, and the cost is not.
What a headline rate does not tell you
A single percentage is easy to compare, which is also what makes it incomplete. Four lines live outside the headline rate, and they belong in your own comparison.
- Hardware. A card reader is bought or rented. Here, cards are taken on your phone: there is no terminal, so there is no hardware line.
- Subscription. A provider's best rate is sometimes conditional on a monthly or yearly subscription, which only pays for itself above a volume you should work out on your own figures. Our schedule has no subscription and no sign-up fee.
- Disputes. Their cost rarely appears in the headline rate: ask every provider for it. Ours is on the pricing page.
- The second rail. A terminal takes cards. Our app also takes stablecoins, and that is the column a terminal comparison does not have.
We do not compare settlement times, ours or anyone else's. Our partners, Stripe and Bridge, have confirmed none to us, so we publish none.
The other column: the stablecoin rail
We accept USDC and EURC on Solana. Their price is the one in step 4 above, conversion into euros and transfer to your bank account included, and its percentage is lower than the card's.
It has no fixed part, so what counts against us on cards does not apply here: a small ticket costs proportionally the same as a large one, and a payment received in stablecoins costs you less than the same payment taken by card, whatever the basket.
The percentage is the same whatever the amount converted, so converting each sale on its own or several at once makes no difference to the price; a conversion is possible from 5.06 EURC or 5.06 USDC. The full schedule is in our pricing, and how the rail works is in our stablecoin guide.
FiatFlex is not a bank, not a payment institution and not an electronic money institution. The regulated parties in the chain are Stripe for cards and Bridge for stablecoins, and the wallet we operate on your behalf is custody.
Frequently asked questions
What does FiatFlex cost by card?
With a card issued in the EEA, 1.9% + €0.20 per payment with Tap to Pay and 2% + €0.25 per payment on a payment link, all in. With a card issued outside the EEA, 3.4% + €0.20 with Tap to Pay and up to 3.65% + €0.25 on a payment link. Every line, business cards included, is on the pricing page.
Are you the cheapest on cards?
No. Cheaper all-in offers exist, and the gap is widest on small tickets. Our lower price is on the stablecoin rail: a percentage with no fixed part, below our card rate, on a small ticket as on a large one.
Why do you not publish your competitors' rates?
Because they change whenever their owners decide, and a figure copied into an article stops being true without warning. We publish ours in full, and the method above so you can set it against any tariff you read yourself.
Why does your card rate have a fixed part?
Because every card payment carries a cost that does not depend on its amount. We show it as it is, €0.20 per payment on Tap to Pay and €0.25 per payment on a payment link, rather than folding it into a higher percentage.
Where do I find your schedule?
In the pricing section and in the app. It is published and applies as it stands, with no quote to request.